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An Untold Tale: Steven DeKnight Discusses Smallville’s Justice League Spinoff

In previously-unpublished interview material, Steven DeKnight discusses a Smallville Justice League spinoff that never happened.

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Recently on Twitter, writer-producer Steven DeKnight (Marvel’s Daredevil, Spartacus) made a reference to a Justice League spinoff from Smallville that almost happened a decade ago. The series would have been led by Justin Hartley as Green Arrow/Oliver Queen — five years before Stephen Amell took on the hood — and characters including Bart Allen, Cyborg, and Aquaman, all from the Smallville episode “Justice” which DeKnight wrote and directed, were to be a part of it.

Smallville Justice“Justice” was one of the highest-rated episodes of Smallville and was also one of the highest-rated TV episodes in The CW’s ten-year history.

Nine years ago, in doing interviews for the Smallville: The Official Companion book for Season 6, this writer spoke with DeKnight about the “Justice” episode, and while the book itself has a lot of quotes related to what we saw on the screen, a lot of the talk about the Justice League spinoff was excised. As those quotes were not published, we are sharing them here for the first time.

“There were a couple of different plans that never quite came to fruition,” DeKnight revealed during the interview for the book. “At one point we were planning a spin-off; we were starting to put it together.”

“It was going to be basically Green Arrow, Cyborg, Flash, a couple of other DC characters living in Metropolis,” DeKnight recalled. “The idea was that Oliver Queen was basically giving refuge to young people with superpowers, kind of in a Professor X kind of way, putting together this team and also trying to help out these people, like he says in ‘Justice’ about how he helped out Victor Stone and Bart and Arthur Curry.”

manyfacesjla2The Justice League spinoff would have been teed up in Smallville’s Season 6 finale. “The idea with that was that Green Arrow was going to appear towards the end and help Clark with his final battle, provide him with an important piece of information. As it was in the season, we actually find out that Green Arrow and his crew of superheroes have been attacking the 33.1 installations. In ‘Prototype’ they provide the information on how to penetrate the prototype’s forcefield. But originally he was going to come back and help out, and that was going to springboard the spin-off that, ultimately, just never happened,” he said.

Sadly, it was not meant to be. “I was supposed to co-create it and run it, so I’m doubly sad. We were all really excited about it, you know, me and the other actors. We all got along great. We really wanted to make this show, and we thought it would be really, really cool,” DeKnight lamented.

sv6companionWhat might we have seen in a Justice League spinoff? We don’t know, but one plan might have included Brainiac — even possibly in a different form, played by a different actor if James Marsters had been busy. “We had talked about bringing Brainiac back, quite possibly in a different form, played by a different actor. We’d kicked around some ideas for bringing him back as somebody else from the Buffyverse, which would’ve been a fun nod. We talked about bringing him back as a woman. And I wouldn’t be surprised at some point between now and the time the show wraps up that Brainiac pops back up,” he said, predicting something that ultimately did not happen. DeKnight revealed that he did have a master plan for Brainiac in the spinoff. “I had a master plan for Brainiac showing up in the spin-off that I won’t tell you what it is, because you never know, a spin-off may happen in the future, and I will use this. But it was awesome,” he said.

Smallville: The Official Companion Season 6 is still available on Amazon.com – order a copy and show the publisher there’s still demand, because this writer would still enjoy finishing the series someday, and there are more stories like this one within! And if you’d like more Smallville Untold Tales, please let us know!

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3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Lu Reindeer

    September 1, 2016 at 6:30 am

    Hell yes I like Smallville I always did, I’ve seen the entire show twice and all do it again and again I never get tired of watching it. I guess is because I grew up with the show best show ever.

  2. Forry

    September 7, 2016 at 1:42 pm

    I hadn’t really watched Smallville until this past month. As a fan of Amell’s Arrow I actually started watching Smallville from Green Arrow’s first appearance to see if I dug it. I was almost instantly reminded of why Superman was my favorite hero. I loved the characters, it would have been great to see a Justice League show, but I don’t if it was exactly the right time. I do wish though that the current DCETVU hadn’t forsaken those 10 years of world building to basically use the same formulas and heroes without any of the familiar faces. I understand Hartley & Amell would have created continuity issues, but I would have gotten over it to finally see my era’s Clark Kent in full Superman regalia even once.

    • Forry

      September 7, 2016 at 1:43 pm

      Oh yeah, BTW, now I’m starting smallville from the beginning so it’s like I’m getting a backstory to the backstory. cool way to enjoy the show.

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Smallville

Smallville “Jitters” Guest Tony Todd Dead at 69

Actor Tony Todd, who played Earl Jenkins in the Smallville episode “Jitters,” has passed away.

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Tony Todd, who played Earl Jenkins in the Smallville Season 1 episode “Jitters” has passed away. The actor, who is most famous for his role in the Candyman franchise, was only 69 years old. He passed November 6 at his home in Los Angeles; no cause of death has been revealed as of yet.

Smallville wasn’t Tony Todd’s only venture into the DC Universe. He lent his voice to such projects s Batman: The Brave and the Bold and even voiced Darkseid in multiple animated features. He also was the voice of the villainous Zoom in over a dozen episode of The CW’s Flash TV series.

He leaves behind a ton of work and a legion of fans who appreciated him. We are so sorry to read that he has died.

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Smallville

Photos: Erica Durance Guest Stars on Kristin Kreuk’s New Show

It’s a Smallville reunion October 15 as Erica Durance guest stars on Kristin Kreuk’s new show Murder in a Small Town for “Prized Possessions.”

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The October 15 episode of Kristin Kreuk‘s new series Murder in a Small Town will be a big one for Smallville fans as there’s a reunion of two cast members from the show within!

Erica Durance – yup, Smallville’s one and only Lois Lane – will be playing Emma O’Brea in the episode which is called “Prized Possessions” and FOX has released two photos featuring the duo! You can check those out below.

MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN: L-R: Kristin Kreuk and guest star Erica Durance in the “Prized Possesions” episode of MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN airing Tuesday, Oct. 15 (8:00-9:00PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2024 Fox Media LLC. CR: Kailey Schwerman/ FOX.

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MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN: L-R: Kristin Kreuk and guest star Erica Durance in the “Prized Possesions” episode of MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN airing Tuesday, Oct. 15 (8:00-9:00PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2024 Fox Media LLC. CR: Kailey Schwerman/ FOX.

Of course, those lucky fans who attended the recent “Salute to Smallville” convention in New Jersey were able to see both Kristin and Erica there — but this episode offers the opportunity to see the two main loves of Clark Kent’s life appearing once again together on screen! Here’s how the episode is described by FOX:

At a fundraiser for her arts center, Cassandra reunites with a childhood friend who later discovers that her husband has gone missing and that a crime scene has unfolded in her home. Cassandra shares clues with Alberg as he investigates the mysterious disappearance, unveiling secrets and the truth behind a marriage in the all-new “Prized Possessions” episode of Murder in a Small Town airing Tuesday, October 15 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (MST-104) (TV-14 L,S,V)

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Interviews

Smallville: Catching Up With Erica Durance

Smallville’s Lois Lane, Erica Durance, reflects on her character as Creation’s Salute to Smallville approaches.

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Creation Entertainment’s “Salute to Smallville” convention is happening this weekend in Parsnippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey (read more about it here), and KryptonSite’s Craig Byrne will be there and a part of it, joining a variety of guests from the series including Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk, Erica Durance, Michael Rosenbaum, John Glover, Laura Vandervoort, and Aaron Ashmore. In anticipation of the October 5-6 event, we were able to interview Erica – our first time talking since Smallville was on the air! – to find out about the convention experience, her return to playing Lois Lane in Crisis, the Smallville animated project, and more. Enjoy!

KRYPTONSITE’S CRAIG BYRNE: I know you’ve done conventions before, but how does it feel to be doing the first completely dedicated to Smallville convention?

ERICA DURANCE: A little nerve wracking, and also fantastic. I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to spending more time with the fans. Creation runs these really great events. They have a good schedule, and they have such good ideas of what we can do and how we can interact. I’m really looking forward to being able to be a part of it and see everybody.

What can fans look forward to seeing at this event?

I know that we will be doing panels. I know that the boys do their “Smallville Nights” which are super, super fun. I think the fans really enjoy when we’re at the table and we chit chat. A lot of us spend a lot of time talking to people there. And photo ops! I’m not sure what else they’re throwing at us, but I do know that there’s a lot more time spent with fans, which is why we’re doing it!

When you got to the call to play Lois Lane again in the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, was that something you had ever expected to do, or did you just figure you were Alura already and that was it?

I just figured I was Alura, and that was that, and I was moving on to other things. Then I was working on a movie for a friend of mine, and I got a text partway through the show, and I just got so excited. I couldn’t believe it! I was really thrilled. I was very excited.

They wrote a really fun little scene for me, and it’s so easy to work with Welling. We have a really good repartee, and I felt like it was just as if we had seen each other the day before, and I hadn’t seen him for 10 years. It was great.

Would you have liked to have gotten to spend more time seeing what Lois was up to these days?

Oh, sure! I liked playing her. I felt very lucky to do it. II always know that the people that are behind all this, that write these different versions and these different scenes and these different shows, are so good, so I don’t really particularly worry about that part so much. I know I’ll be doing something fun and different, and every scene is unique. So, yeah, I would have been fine with doing a little more.

You’re reuniting with several of your castmates at this convention, but also you have an episode of Murder in a Small Town that you did with Kristin. Did you have any scenes together, ad did you know it was Kristin’s show when you booked it?

Oh, yeah. She called me! And we had quite a few things together, and it was great fun. You know, other than a couple of times we worked together on Smallville, we haven’t worked that much [together] professionally. We’ve been really good friends for years and done other things, but not work together.

I remember feeling like I was about 20 years old again. I started to look at her, and we’re in the circus, and I looked down, and we just both shriek. People don’t know that we’ve known each other for so long, right? It was so cool.

Fans have also loved it whenever you’ve shown up on Tom and Michael’s podcast. Might you be showing up on it more in the future?

I don’t know. It depends on schedule, and timing, and what they’re doing and what I’m doing, but it’s always nice to get back and chat about certain episodes and how we felt about doing different things.

Did your impression of Smallville change after you started doing conventions?

I would say not so much, because I came into that show knowing it was successful. I knew it was special. I was excited to be a part of it. I wasn’t so fully entrenched in it as Welling was in the sense that he was there all the time, and I had a little bit of that objective bird’s eye view of ‘hey, you know, I know what the fans are thinking. I know that I’m excited, because I know they’re gonna like it. And I would say I’m surprised at how long it’s been that we’re going back around and talking about it, but not negatively. It’s wonderful.

What do you think is the magic chemistry between Lois and Clark, whether it’s on Smallville or other projects? What makes them work so well?

I think they balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses, regardless of the incarnation you see. There are moments that Clark’s very, very strong, and he’s a hero, and he can do everything that he needs to do, and is able to help Lois, who’s this strong woman, but needs help. And then you’ll see the flip side of it, where it’s in her humanity that he feels a level of connection. I think it’s that balance between both sides of parts of themselves, and it just seems to work.

I know you had a memorable experience meeting Margot Kidder at a convention, but is there any other Lois Lane actor that you would love to meet someday?

I’d love to meet Teri Hatcher. I’ve never met her!

What other projects do you have coming up?

I did the show for Kristin [Murder in a Small Town], and then I have two two Christmas movies coming out on Hallmark. They’re a little bit of a departure for me, and I’m excited about them. In one I play a 1960s housewife, and in the next one that I’m currently shooting right now, I’m the Queen Mother of — it’s not a fantasy land, but it’s not a real land [either]. She’s taking care of her daughter and trying to get her on the right path. They’re really different roles for me, but I really enjoy them because they’re quite far away from the person that I really am. It actually felt quite good.

Would you like to do the animated project that Tom and Michael are trying to get off the ground?

Absolutely. I think it would be great. Especially if they have Al and Miles [Gough and Millar, the creators of Smallville] behind it, which they seem to be talking about… then you know that there’s going to be a level of consistency with the characters, and the dialogue, and all that kind of stuff.

Have your kids found out yet that you played Lois Lane?

They don’t quite know what that means yet. They don’t think it’s that cool. They think Superman is pretty cool, but I think I’m just so different in real life to what they see up there, that it’s really hard for them to gel that like in any way their mom played a character that was somewhat cool.

They just think I’m the biggest nerd, so they find it weird that Mommy would be considered cool.

There was one time when they didn’t think I was tough, so I was like “let me show you some things.” I just YouTubed a lot of my fights [as Lois], and they were like, “Mommy, you were angry!” And I was like, “don’t mess with me, is all I’m saying.” Now they call me Big Mama. “Don’t mess with Big Mama!”

What do you hope the fans get from this convention experience?

I hope their interactions are positive enough for them, and they’re able to say the things they had wanted to say for a really long time. I know a lot of people travel with family and friends. I just hope it’s a really fun, good, positive weekend for them.

Tickets to “Salute to Smallville” are still available! Get your photo opps, autographs, and event tickets HERE! Big thanks to Erica Durance for taking the time to talk to us.

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