‘Smallville’ concluded its ten-season run in 2011. Michael Rosenbaum and Tom Welling revealed their plans to make an animated sequel to the CW show in the following years.
Rosenbaum shared the project’s current status during a recent panel at Nashville Comicon:
“Tom and I are working on a ‘Smallville’ animated series that we’re trying to get made. It’s gonna take time.”
He mentioned Alfred Gough and Miles Millar’s possible involvement:
“But the creators of ‘Smallville’ are attached, they want to be a part of it. And we, you know, when it’s the right time, we’ll pitch it. You know, we’re working on it and we have some loose animation that we’ve worked on with someone who was just awesome. It looks great. So if we can get that made, that’d be awesome.”
It’s Not The Right Time For The Animation
Rosenbaum first mentioned the animated ‘Smallville’ show idea a few years ago at the Fan Expo Vancouver. But he noted earlier this year that the timing still wasn’t right for its production. He told Screen Rant:
“When it’s the right time, we’d like to go and do this; pitch to Warner Bros. It has to be the right time, and right now is not the right time. We had the strike, we had a change of executives at DC — one being one of my best friends in the world, James Gunn.”
The actor played Lex Luthor for seven of the original series’ ten seasons before leaving due to conflict over payment. He said of reprising the role:
“When the time’s right, I think it’s something that’s a no brainer, unless they have other ideas. We’d like to do it — the whole cast would like to do it. They would voice their own character from the show, and we have a concept of what the show is.”
Rosenbaum Lost The Lex Luthor Part To Someone Else
Meanwhile, DC Studios hired Nicholas Hoult as a new version of Luthor in the upcoming ‘Superman.’ Michael Rosenbaum also talked about the actor change during the recent Nashville Comicon. The actor recalled questioning James Gunn’s decision:
“I asked him, ‘Why am I not in ‘Superman?’ Why am I not in the movie somehow?’”
He added:
“It was fine, though. I wish him all the happiness. He deserves all the success he has. He’s enormously talented. When it’s the right thing, he’ll ask me. Or he won’t. And that’s aside from friendship. When your friends go off and do big things, you say, ‘Hey, they know I’m here. They know my number.’ And you just hope for the best.”
David Corenswet will be the Superman to Hoult’s Lex Luthor. ‘Superman’ will see release on July 11, 2025.
