10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Smallville

9. The Adam Knight Mystery

Smallville Supernatural Crossover
The CW

Despite the young Bruce Wayne series being scrapped in favour of Smallville, that didn't stop rumblings and speculation that Smallville's producers at one time had plans to make Bruce a part of the show.

In fact, when Ian Somerhalder was cast in Smallville, he was under the impression that he would be playing Bruce Wayne. An orphan who had travelled the globe and was an expert in many martial arts, Somerhalder instead played a character called Adam Knight - a character who was ultimately a Lionel Luthor-resurrected sort with a dependency on a Lazarus serum.

Smallville producers have often played down that Adam Knight was intended to be Bruce Wayne, but Somerhalder himself has publicly stated numerous times how the arc for his character was changed at the last minute. In fact, the actor has even claimed how he'd actually shot three episodes of Smallville thinking he was a different character, before it became clear that Adam Knight was different to what had initially been promised to Somerhalder.

Was Ian Somerhalder promised that he would be playing the Dark Knight in waiting? Was it merely implied that Adam Knight might actually be Master Bruce? Was Adam Knight's story always planned to play out how it did?

Only a select few people know the complete truth on this matter, but the end result was a largely disappointing one for audiences as Knight went from mysterious, intriguing character, to just another run-of-the-mill villain.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.