6 Times Smallville Improved Superman Mythology (& 4 Times It Failed)
1. Failed: We Didn't See Superman
"No tights, no flights" was to come to a glorious end in a finale that would be a full on Superman adventure, but Tom Welling cancelled those plans. He told the network president that the series should not show Superman in order to stay true to its original premise. Welling was, by his own admission, not a Superman fan beforehand. This perspective may have made it difficult for him to understand the significance of seeing Clark Kent fully transform into Superman.
It is more than mere matters of wardrobe. This decision also failed to fulfill key thematic points of Clark's long journey. The show posed the question whether mankind ready for the knowledge that we are not alone in the universe. Throughout the series Clark so feared his "coming out" moment that he repeatedly guarded his secret at the cost of pushing loved ones away. The day he stopped hiding was a momentous one in his story...and the series completely blew past this.
The final scene, set seven years in the future, was a great glimpse of the Superman world, but not enough to make up for skimming past his debut. Imagine if you edited out the scene from Superman: The Movie when Clark first appears in public as Superman to save Lois Lane from falling from the roof of The Daily Planet building? You could infer from the later scenes of Perry White going through the headlines what you missed, but wouldn't that be completely lackluster?
That is happened with Smallville's finale; some really good parts, but ultimately never came together quite enough to give the ten-year journey the satisfying ending it deserved.
How do you think Smallville improved or failed the Superman mythology? Let us know down in the comments.