Smallville comes back in a key way through another Superman release at DC, and it is perfect for the Man of Steel. Many actors have played Superman in live-action. However, few have had the same impact on the DC hero's mythos and the general audience as Tom Welling's Clark Kent in Smallville. The Superman prequel is one of DC's best live-action TV shows.
Smallville went on for 10 seasons, chronicling different eras of Clark's life in his journey to becoming Superman. Fans got to watch as Clark discovered his powers, lost important people, took his first steps as a superhero under another identity, and eventually donned the iconic red and blue Superman suit in the Smallville series finale. What a journey that was.
Ever since Smallville came to an end in 2011, fans have been asking for Welling to come back as the Man of Steel. That briefly happened in the Arrowverse's Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event, where Clark was revealed to have given up his powers. While Welling and Smallville are not back in 2026, a new DC release repeats one of the show's core elements.
David Corenswet's Superman in James Gunn's DC Universe might find inspiration in Welling's Clark Kent — Smallville was Corenswet's Superman adaptation growing up — it is My Adventures with Superman that brings back a core Smallville element. The Boys' Jack Quaid voices Clark in the animated series, with new My Adventures with Superman season 3 episodes airing weekly.
With each episode of the animated series, more and more villains with kryptonite enhancements emerge. In My Adventures with Superman season 3, episode 2, the Man of Steel is told by one of them that the villains are using kryptonite because it has just been lying around after the failed Zero Day, with kryptonian robots just leaving it all on Earth. While this plot is not exactly like that of Smallville's early seasons, both Superman series play with the same idea that Clark fights what would be small-time criminals but with kryptonite enhancements.
In My Adventures with Superman season 3 and other seasons of the animated DC series, those villains use advanced weaponry and armor powered by kryptonite. Smallville had a more simple take on the concept. When exposed to the kryptonite that came to Earth in the same meteor shower that brought Kal-El to the planet, Smallville's villains would develop powers, allowing them to kill people and wreak havoc, with Welling's Clark Kent having to step in to deal with them. As such, My Adventures with Superman is essentially pulling a Smallville.
By repeating what Smallville did more than a decade ago, My Adventures with Superman season 3 creates a sense of danger from all sides, as every small-time villain can get a kryptonite boost, which ends up making things more dangerous for Quaid's Superman. After all, kryptonite is the Man of Steel's biggest weakness. Any long-form Superman series, like Smallville and the animated DC show, has to wrestle with the difficulties that come with a main hero who is nearly unbeatable. By enhancing villains with the element that makes Superman weak, he can't easily win fights.
While not all Superman adaptations can follow what Smallville did, My Adventures with Superman is the perfect DC release to repeat the live-action series' use of kryptonite. After all, the animated series is mainly a slice of life tale about a young adult Clark Kent who is working through life with his best friends, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, and is finding his footing as Superman. As such, having him fight smaller villains powered by kryptonite tracks, whereas David Corenswet's Superman doing that in the DCU might be something that gets complaints. My Adventures with Superman does well with its Smallville inspiration.
A young trio of reporters navigate their roles at a major city newspaper while exploring the dynamics of friendship and burgeoning romance. A groundfloor treatment of the Superman mythos, the animated series balances Clark Kent's daily undercover life and the tenuous balance in keeping his secret from the world while protecting it, all while supporting the people closest to him.
Smallville chronicles the journey of a young Clark Kent during his teenage years on Earth. The series explores his challenges and development leading towards his destiny as iconic hero Superman, set against the backdrop of Smallville, Kansas.
