Can you believe it has now been eight years since the series finale of Smallville aired on The CW?
The two-hour event aired May 13, 2011 and brought Michael Rosenbaum back to our screens as Lex Luthor. Clark Kent embraced his destiny, even if we didn’t get to see a lot of it on screen. Lots of old faces returned, and the John Williams fanfare ended it all.
In the years since, we’ve seen Tom Welling return to TV on Lucifer Season 3 and he’s finally embracing fandom and attending conventions, which many of his co-stars are doing. When he’s not appearing in big movies like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Michael Rosenbaum has become an incredible interviewer with his Inside of You podcast. Kristin Kreuk had a hit show with Beauty and the Beast and is now back on our screens with Burden of Truth. Erica Durance starred in Saving Hope and even had a recurring role on Supergirl; Laura Vandervoort also appeared on Supergirl in addition to her series leading role in Bitten.
Justin Hartley‘s career exploded when he became a part of one of broadcast TV’s biggest hits, This Is Us; the show was just renewed for a whopping three seasons. Annette O’Toole dipped into the Marvel Universe for a role on The Punisher; meanwhile, John Glover played a Lionel Luthor-like role in this year’s Shazam. Cassidy Freeman had a multi-season part as one of the leads on Longmire; Aaron Ashmore stars in Syfy’s Killjoys. John Schneider stars in The Haves and Have Nots, though he has had some troubles including the creation of a studio that was severely affected by floods.
Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar have run two successful series in recent years – The Shannara Chronicles and Into The Badlands. That is in addition to their movie work – I Am Number Four felt very Smallville in many of the best ways.
The post-Smallville life hasn’t been perfect for some. Allison Mack‘s association with the NXIVM “sex cult” has put the actress under a magnifying glass which also sadly has probably affected some perceptions of the TV series and Chloe’s role in it. The ultimate result of Allison’s troubles will be decided in New York courts; fortunately, Mack seems repentant for the things that went on.
It’s also incredible to note that while Smallville, near the end there, seemed unappreciated by then-CW head Dawn Ostroff, her successor Mark Pedowitz seems to love DC superhero shows. Arrow started the next generation of series which will balloon to a whopping six series in the 2019-2020 season, including The Flash, Supergirl, Black Lightning, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and, premiering this Fall, Batwoman. Can you imagine the alternate universe where Smallville could have inspired or led to so many spinoffs?
It is not just The CW that is in on all this action, either. There’s a Super-show on Syfy about Superman’s grandfather called Krypton, and the DC Universe subscription service, while not having Smallville (that’s on Hulu), has added series about the Titans, Stargirl, Doom Patrol, and Swamp Thing.
But long before we had a leafy Swamp Thing back on our TV screens, it all started with a leafy little hamlet.
Always hold on.
And for the future? Smallville did continue in a series of Season 11 comics; but also, with a Crisis on the horizon, could we see some familiar faces? Stay tuned this Fall.
See KryptonSite’s original gallery for the Smallville finale here, and find yourself transported back to 2011!