If you’re a DC fan, you definitely know about the longest-running DC series in the 21st Century so far; the best Superman series, and one of the most memorable opening theme songs in comic book series. Smallville was a huge hit throughout its ten season run, from 2001 to 2011, and made lots of fans in its time. Its stories added new depth to the Superman mythos and the stakes that were raised as time went on, got more and more people invested in the story, as every season got millions of viewers and never fell short of expectations. But, how did it all start? Was Smallville the original plan? Was it what the studio wanted to make? If you follow the entertainment industry, you should know by now that if the IP is big enough, it never turns out the way it was originally envisioned, and this is very true for Smallville. What makes this one special is that it wasn’t even supposed to be about Superman at all. It was originally envisioned as an origin series based on Batman. But, how could that be? They’re clearly very different characters. How did it go from being about everyone’s favourite rebellious billionaire to being about everybody’s favourite boy scout Kansas farmer? That’s what we’ll explore in this article.
Bruce Wayne
Tollins/Robbins productions had originally wanted to make a Batman origin show that they were going to call “Bruce Wayne”. The show was pitched by a screenwriter called Tim McCanlies. This was in the late 90s. The idea was to explore the why and the how of Batman. Not many shows or comics (much less movies) go fully into what Bruce Wayne learned and went through during his training to become the Dark Knight. All they ever do is put him in a situation where he has to go look for someone who he turns out to have trained with who has the expertise needed to solve that particular case. We never actually see everything he learned. That’s what this show was going to do. It was going to take us on a step-by-step journey through his life.
It was all coming together. There was a complete script for the pilot episode and it got positive reviews. Tollin/Robbins bought the production rights to the show and HBO was being considered for broadcasting rights. Things were really looking good for the show. The studio had confidence in it. Shawn Ashmore (Iceman in the X-Men movies) was considered for the role of Bruce Wayne, Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor in Smallville) was considered for the role of Harvey Dent and David Krumholtz was considered for Jim Gordon.
And then…
The studio eventually cancelled the development of the project altogether because the film division wanted to make a Batman origin movie which would be based on Batman: Year One. Yeah. That happened. The studio wasn’t too big on exploring the life of Bruce Wayne on the small screen. He’s too big for that. They wanted to have some sort of redemption for the critical and commercial failure of Batman and Robin, so the best move was to make a movie, not a series that would span over many years and generate interest in the character once more and get new fans. This plan, as we all can conclude, ended with the creation of the Dark Knight Trilogy, arguably the best superhero movie trilogy of all time. So, at least it worked out…in a way, right?
Then Came the Legendary Duo
This iconic duo: Alfred Gough and Miles Millar do not get the recognition they deserve. They are the ones who brought this show to life. They’re also brains behind another hit show Into the Badlands. These guys have an impressive resume. Tollin/Robbins, seeing how their Batman show wasn’t going to be made, approached Peter Roth, president of WB Television at the time, and talked about making a Superman origin show. Peter Roth then found out about Gough and Millar, and asked them to develop a young Superman series. They had the ingenious idea to keep Superman from fully becoming Superman throughout the show’s run. It was a great idea because it gave them ample time to develop pretty much everything they could about Superman before showing us and the world exactly how the Man of Steel came to be and how he functions. They called it the “no tights, no flights,” rule. Indeed, there were no tights and no flights, but when the story got too big, they had to find a way around that and he went through a couple of identities before finally settling with Superman.
It was a tumultuous journey that still ultimately gave us one of the best DC series ever. It has had a lasting impact on the comicbook community and will continue to influence how series tell their stories forever more. Smallville should be what all comicbook series strive to be: a show that takes its time to tell the story, that doesn’t just tell you what it has to and leaves. It gives you time with characters and their lives in order for you to know them in different circumstances and environments. It had everything from comedic episodes, to dramatic ones, dark ones, epic, it spanned different genres like detective, noir, spy, action, romantic comedy, and many other things. Smallville did it all. Was it better than what Bruce Wayne could have been? That’s a question that can’t be answered at any point…unless we compare it to Gotham…and there’s a clear winner there.
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