‘Smallville’ Animated Series Gets Disappointing Update From Tom Welling

Is Smallville finally coming back? Series star Tom Welling updates fans on the potential animated revival, as well as why news about the DC show has been sparse.

Smallville is one of the most beloved DC shows of all time. For many, Tom Welling is the definitive version of Superman. And in a world where almost every actor is getting a second crack at playing their most iconic roles, many fans hoped that this could mean the series would return in some form. These hopes were vindicated back in 2021, where it was revealed that animated revival of hit teen drama was in the works from Welling and his co-star Michael Rosenbaum.

News about the animated Smallville revival has been sporadically released over the past few years. Tom Welling revealed that he hoped to get as much of the original cast as he could to reprise their role in the DC series along with him and Michael Rosenbaum. It was also confirmed that the show had been pitched to Warner Bros. Discovery by the two stars, with pre-production having already started in some stage back in May.

Tom Welling Reveals The Difficulties Of A Smallville Animated Revival

Despite all of this seemingly good news, not everything is sunny in Smallville. Tom Welling was asked for an update on the DC series during a recent talk with KryptonSite. While the actor revealed more work had been done on the revival than initially believed, he also admitted not much could be shared due to Warner Bros. Discovery holding back a greenlight for the animated project.

“We’ve been talking about it for a few years,” Welling explained. “We want to do a Smallville comic book and animated series, and then we would all voice the characters. We’ve already got an artist, and we have a poster.”

“We haven’t been able to share it yet, but Lionel Luthor is looming over everybody, and it’s really cool, but we just we we can’t do anything without DC saying we can do it. They just haven’t given us a green light, but we’re ready, and Al [Gough] and Miles [Millar], who wrote Smallville, want to write it., but it’s not our property, until they say we can do it.”

“It would be more of a labor of love. It’s not going to make a billion dollars, so the studio is kind of like [grumbles].  Maybe we can do a — not a GoFundMe, because that’s financial — but like a petition. We can petition Warner Bros. to let us do it.”

This is certainly disappointing to hear, especially given how passionate Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum have been about a Smallville revival. However, given Warner Bros. Discovery’s focus on building their own new DC Universe, an animated continuation of an older series likely isn’t on the top of their priority list. Though given the project has some work done, it may be a matter of “when,” not “if”!

The Smallville animated revival is currently in talks, and there’s no word on when the series could release. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the DC Universe and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!