Yes, you read that title correctly; an animated version of Smallville is in the works, according to former star Tom Welling. Superhero Hype broke the story; here's their announcement in full.
Former Smallville star Tom Welling dropped a bombshell last year when he casually announced (in a Cameo message, of all places) that an animated continuation of the long-running DC series was in development, with himself and Michael Rosenbaum reprising their roles as Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, respectively. Neither The CW nor HBO Max has backed up these claims in recent months. But while appearing at Fan Expo Vancouver (via ScreenRant) over the weekend, Welling teased that the show is still in the works. And he also shared who else might be involved. Tom Welling offers.
Welling was joined on the panel by fellow Smallville alum and Erica Durance, who played Lois Lane on the series. When discussing the potential revival, he confirmed that a few of the show’s other performers have already been contacted about coming back. It also sounds like the new series will be the latest superhero project to explore alternate realities.
“We’re working on animated series that picks up right after our Smallville [Season 10],” said Welling. “And, again, telling our own story and our vision is that we get Erica… It might be tough to get Allison [Mack] … But even Sam Jones III and Lionel Luthor is going to be a big part of that. John Glover wants to do it, we’ve already been into this. We’ve already gotten animation, we just don’t have the stories yet because Al [Gough] and Miles [Millar] are busy doing Tim Burton-like movies.”
“As soon as they are done with that, we’re going to do this,” continued Welling. “I want to be Clark’s voice, I want Erica to be Lois’ voice. That’s going to be the fun of it. I think there’s a story that Al and Miles are going to tell that’s individual and new and call it a Multiverse thing. But let’s see where it goes, and it’ll be fun so yeah.”
Mack, who starred in all 10 seasons of Smallville as Chloe Sullivan, recently began serving a three-year prison sentence for her role in the NXIVM cult. So her return is highly unlikely. However, one of the bigger surprises here is the involvement of Jones, who played Pete Ross in Smallville’s first three seasons and later faced his own legal troubles when he was arrested on a drug charge in 2009. Jones eventually served 10 months in jail and has since returned to acting.
It’s also nice to see that Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are also onboard as well. Gough and Millar famously left the original series after its seventh season. Right now, the pair are working on Netflix’s upcoming Addams Family spinoff, Wednesday. This is probably what Welling meant by “Tim Burton-like movies,” since Burton is directing that show.