Americans discovered the series just 22 years ago Smallville on their screens. While the story of Superman is known to almost no one, the story of his childhood before he became the famous caped hero was much more mysterious back then. The novel has now become a cult and, with its ten seasons (with many revealed secrets), continues to enjoy great popularity among fans, who can (re)watch it, especially on the Prime Video streaming platform. A sight that wouldn’t hurt Tom Welling, the interpreter of Clark Kent, because the actor completely forgot this scene, which is nevertheless iconic for all viewers. But if it now seems impossible to imagine a television world in which… Smallville would never have seen the light of day, but it almost happened. To mark the series’ anniversary, we’re revealing an anecdote you might not have known!
The failure of Batman and Robin almost prevented Smallville to see the day
Before Smallville landed on the American channel The WB (then The CW), Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the creators, had to convince those responsible of the interest of such fiction for the public. A task made more difficult by a particular film! Batman and Robin, Joel Schumacher’s feature film, which was released in cinemas in 1997, disappointed and remained a failure with critics. Many even consider it to be the worst Batman film. The failure of this production, especially with Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Uma Thurman, Chris O’Donnell and Alicia Silverstone, pushed Warner Bros. The release of a new film about the Dark Knight was canceled until 2005 with the new Batman Begins series. The director even apologized 20 years after the release of Batman and Robin. But if this film hurt a lot of people, it also almost prevented the series from being released Smallvilleas the American website The Hollywood Reporter revealed in 2021.
The rest below this ad
No broadcaster wanted to know anything about the series’ pitch Smallville
“The last version of Superman was Lois and Clark, and the last version of Batman was Batman and Robin,” Alfred Gough told The Hollywood Reporter about her path to directing Smallville in 2000. It was the nadir of superhero projects. The only hope that presented itself this summer was the first X-Men film. If the first X-Men film allowed Marvel to produce more ambitious feature films, DC lagged behind because of Batman and Robin. Especially because the latter had such a negative reputation for studio executives turning away from the genre, it had a reputation that no one was interested in the idea of making a superhero series at the time. No station wanted to hear it [la proposition de Smallville]. The WB didn’t want to hear it. The only network we thought might be interested was Fox. When we finally went to WB, we were kind of surprised. I think it was a surprise for them too because they liked the project and were surprised to hear it,” Miles Millar revealed afterwards.
The rest below this ad
How did the makers of Smallville Did they manage to sell the idea of the series?
A positive point for the makers of “Smallville” is that the period of Superman’s youth has not been discussed in any media up to this point. “There were no comics [l’adolescence de Clark Kent]. It was a blank page. Jenette Kahn, the editor of DC Comics at the time, said: “Clark became who he is because of his parents.” If he had ended up in a different cornfield and been raised by different people, he would have been different. “It’s something that really impressed us,” said Alfred Gough. Miles Millar concluded: “We had the freedom to change the mythology, to make it our own, when Lex lost his hair in the meteor shower – and even the meteor shower itself, which was new. Anyone approaching a similar story today wouldn’t have the freedom we had, because back then no one cared.” Smallville has since inspired another fantasy series, and you’d never have thought it!
The rest below this ad