Michael Rosenbaum Suggests ‘Smallville’ Animated Show Is Being Held Up By James Gunn’s DCU

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Everyone is focused on James Gunn’s new Superman movies, with David Corenswet taking on the role in Man of Tomorrow planned for 2027. But many fans are also eager to see what happens with the story from the Smallville TV series. Though Smallville ended 14 years ago, there’s been discussion about a new animated show continuing Tom Welling’s Superman story. Unfortunately, Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor, recently shared discouraging news about the possibility of this revival.

Since 2021, Michael Rosenbaum has been hinting at a new animated show continuing the story of Tom Welling’s Clark Kent/Superman after the series Smallville ended. Although there have been some positive developments, there have been many setbacks. When asked about the show’s current status at Comic Con Liverpool, Rosenbaum said:

We’ve been developing some ideas for a potential project, and the creators of Smallville, Al Gough and Miles Miller, are on board. Tom Welling and I are both eager to make it happen, but we’re waiting for the right opportunity to pitch it. It’s important to gauge the studio’s interest first. We definitely want to include the original cast if we move forward, but there’s no set timeline right now. It’s still in the early stages of development.

Will We Even See the Animated ‘Smallville’ Series?

Back in 2021, continuing the story of Smallville seemed like a real possibility. Now that James Gunn is building his new DC Universe, and it’s heavily focused on Superman in its early stages, it’s unclear if a Smallville project would be approved as part of the ‘Elseworlds’ initiative. While having multiple versions of Batman is acceptable, having two major versions of Superman might be too much.

In 2024, Tom Welling indicated that any new projects related to Smallville depended on getting the go-ahead from DC. He revealed they had concept art and a poster, featuring a return of Lionel Luthor, but couldn’t release it yet. Welling explained that they were prepared to move forward, with the original writers, Al and Miles, eager to contribute, but they needed DC’s official approval before anything could happen, as they didn’t fully own the rights to the series.

The project has seen some development over the past year, but its success hinges on getting approval from Gunn and his team. Rosenbaum, Welling, Gough, and Miller are still involved and plan to launch it when the timing is optimal. Given the current focus on Superman within the DCU, the main uncertainty is exactly when that time will come.

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2025-11-20 02:02