Smallville Finale

[thecolorsblend]

Welling returns: https://ew.com/tv/2019/09/19/tom-welling-smallville-crisis-on-infinite-earths-arrowverse/

The cast of the next Arrowverse crossover event now includes Burt Ward, John Wesley Shipp, Kevin Conroy, Brandon Routh and Tom Welling.

Disclaimer: For reasons obvious and not so obvious, I'm well established among the royal elite of Smallville apologists. I doubt any of you are connected by less than six degrees to a bigger Smallville fan than me. I'll take on anybody any time, accept any challenge and tolerate no pretenders to the throne.

Having said all of that, anybody who's overjoyed about Welling's return REALLY needs to temper their expectations. I rather adore Smallville's finale but the fact is that I'm in the minority. A lot of people were let down by Welling's obvious refusal to wear the uniform. And I'd be willing to bet money that he won't be suiting up for the Arrowverse crossover either. Considering the limitations Welling himself has probably imposed on this, I'm not expecting much more than him making an extended cameo as Clark Kent.

Still, a lot of fans of a lot of different series/movies/franchises will be engaged with Crisis On Infinite Earths than in the Arrowverse's entire history. There's less crossover among those fandoms than you might think. Ratings for this crossover could be sky high simply because of how many different franchises are getting face time. And Smallville's fanbase is nothing to sneeze at.

But where are Teri and Dean?

I'm of two minds on that. Time is running out for a L&C relaunch to be viable. It's open to debate if Dean and Teri appearing in character in the Arrowverse helps or harms the chances of a revival. All I want is closure to that series and I don't think we have very long before getting that closure is impossible.

And how about someone from the Burtonverse?

Michelle Pfieffer did mention that she'd be willing to play Catwoman again. And certainly she's always welcome in my book.

[thecolorsblend]

https://ew.com/tv/2019/09/20/erica-durance-arrow-crossover-lois-lane-smallvile-crisis

Erica Durance is back in the game too.

Can Rosenbaum be too far behind?

[Silver Nemesis]

[thecolorsblend]

So much joy. In spite of myself, I'm getting a little excited about this.

[The Laughing Fish]

Michael Rosenbaum has confirmed on Twitter he will NOT be returning, and here's why:



https://www.twitter.com/michaelrosenbum/status/1176526751461019648

Just when I thought my opinion of Warner Butchers couldn't sink any lower, they do this. How insulting. Can't blame Rosenbaum at all.

[thecolorsblend]

Michael Rosenbaum has confirmed on Twitter he will NOT be returning, and here's why:



https://www.twitter.com/michaelrosenbum/status/1176526751461019648

Just when I thought my opinion of Warner Butchers couldn't sink any lower, they do this. How insulting. Can't blame Rosenbaum at all.

Um, to be clear, the movie division has nothing to do with any of that, really. The production company is the one with whom Rosenbaum and his agent were interacting.

And the reason they were probably in such a rush is because they'll be filming this thing soon and want to know right now if Rosenbaum is onboard before they go to all the trouble of crafting a story/subplot for him. The money thing... well, he's guest starring on somebody else's show so it makes sense that the pay isn't great.

Don't get me wrong, I think he's probably making the right call. I'm just saying that there are considerations to this. It's not a Good Guy vs. Bad Guy paradigm.

[The Laughing Fish]

Um, to be clear, the movie division has nothing to do with any of that, really. The production company is the one with whom Rosenbaum and his agent were interacting.

Maybe, maybe not. As soon as I read "WB called my agents" along with the rest of his explanation, my first impulse was to show my contempt for the company.

And the reason they were probably in such a rush is because they'll be filming this thing soon and want to know right now if Rosenbaum is onboard before they go to all the trouble of crafting a story/subplot for him.

And you don't see any problems with this? That makes it sound like they don't know what they're doing - particularly if they're shooting very soon. If they don't even a plan on how to bring Smallville Lex into the crossover - not even giving Rosenbaum a clue if he's only doing a cameo - then they're wasting their time and the actor's time. I don't know if the other Smallville actors faced the same treatment or not, but this is a slap in the face.

The money thing... well, he's guest starring on somebody else's show so it makes sense that the pay isn't great.

There's a difference between "the pay isn't great" and "Basically no money". I'm sure Rosenbaum would've been happy to accept a small sum if the producers or whoever actually had a clue about WTF they wanted him to do.

Don't get me wrong, I think he's probably making the right call. I'm just saying that there are considerations to this. It's not a Good Guy vs. Bad Guy paradigm.

Calling somebody at a rather inconvenient time and place, whether they meant to or not, and pressuring them to make a decision without much information to go by, isn't very considerate. Besides, given Warner's recent track record in lacking clarity, leaving actors AND fans hanging as well as other negligent things, it's not too unreasonable to paint them as the bad guys.

[thecolorsblend]

Nearly posted this in The Batman thread over in the other section. But I realized it's possibly more relevant here. Mod(s), move this post as you see fit. Anyway.

https://movieweb.com/amp/the-batman-superman-tom-welling

"Yeah, I think that would be cool. My buddy Rob Pattinson, he is going to be the new Batman. I would love... it would be fun to be the Superman that shows up in his movie, just because he is a friend of mine. Yeah, who knows."

Seems like another lifetime now. But time was, I was a huge boxing fan. And circa 1999-2003 or so, like everybody else the fight I wanted to see was Wladimir Klitschko vs. Lennox Lewis. A hypothetical Klitschko/Lewis bout was the MacGuffin of Ocean's 11. But whatever happened happened and the Klitschko/Lewis bout never materialized during that era in spite of all the anticipation.

And yet, there was briefly some noise about it. Probably around 2006 or 2007 or so, rumors and gossip swirled like snowflakes in a blizzard. But things were just different by then. Yeah, people had been stoked for a Klitschko/Lewis title bout. Back in 2001. By, like, 2008, nobody gaf anymore. That time had passed. I've wondered more than once if fan apathy wasn't part of the reason a showdown between those two never happened. Either way, the fans had been jerked around too many times. Nobody cared anymore after a certain point.

After the COIE crossover in recent posts in this thread, that's basically where I am with Welling suiting up as actual Superman at this point. Yeah, that idea was pretty exciting. Back in 2008.

But after the various letdowns, I don't give a damn anymore. Even if it happens, eh. Whatever. Welling is finally open to actually playing Superman and I don't give a flying s**t anymore.

That's one problem right there.

But another problem is how well Smallville's Superman would fit with The Batman. Honestly, I like the idea of Pattinson's version of the character being his own separate thing that Reeves can do whatever he wants with. By all means, throw everything Batman-related at the Reeves version. The Court Of Owls, Talon, a more modern Catwoman, Kelley Jones-inspired Gotham City, anything and everything Batman. Mine it all. Leave no stone unturned.

But leave the other DC stuff out. There'll be plenty of Batman rubbing elbows with other DC characters in other incarnations of the character.

Anyway. The bottom line here is Welling has had every conceivable chance to play Superman for real. If he'd been willing to do it, I'm completely convinced that Justice League: Mortal would've happened back in 2009. And I would've loved it. But it's not 2009 anymore. And nobody cares anymore.

[thecolorsblend]

https://movieweb.com/smallville-animated-revival-pitch-michael-rosenbaum-tom-welling

And I guess since I'm here, Welling and Rosenbaum are also kicking the tires on an animated Smallville film. Presumably, such a thing would take place after the events of the series finale.

Honestly... I guess I could get onboard with this. Years and years ago, series co-creator Miles Millar described in an interview what a Smallville feature film would probably be IF one was ever made. He basically described an action-fest centered around the President Lex storyline from 2001. Not a literal adaptation of it. But something that owes heavily back to that story. He said it would probably never happen. But if it did, something like President Lex would be his move.

I'd like to see Miles and Al Gough come back too for an animated thing. No idea if it'll happen. But this somehow seems less aggravating to me than Welling barging into the Reevesverse.

[The Dark Knight]

Tom is friends with Rob. That's about the extent of the comment, I think. He knows it's not going to happen so that's why the comment has been made. I'm not a huge Smallville fan but from what I know, I don't believe a continuation is necessary. Clark was always the focus, not Superman. Blowing up the balloon from that point onwards wouldn't feel authentic. At least to me. WB will be too busy with SuperWoke to give any other Superman projects serious attention, anyway. Which is equally predictable and staggering.