Over its 10-season run, Smallville made a number of bold choices regarding its telling of Superman's origin story, and all of them were mistakes that eventually backfired for the show and its cast. Credited with inspiring the modern superhero genre, the Superman character is by far one of the most iconic figures in all of pop culture. As a result, his story has been rewritten, reimagined, and retold time and time again, making for a truly staggering depth to the character's mythos.
Smallville's central premise is that it was conceived purely to tell the story of Superman's younger years. This approach was risky, as it essentially robbed the character of a number of his most iconic elements, but ultimately, Smallville proved a perfect Superman origin story. Lasting for 10 full seasons, Smallville explored not just Superman's origins, but those of a number of his villains and allies, too, as well as establishing its own wider DC universe including a number of important Justice League heroes.
In its unique approach to Superman's story, Smallville made a number of bold choices. The show benefitted from a number of these, but in the end, each bold decision eventually backfired. How this impacted Smallville varies: some decisions hurt the show's story and credibility in the long run, and others presented behind-the-scenes issues for those involved with the show. Put simply, the same novel ideas that made Smallville so successful ultimately made it unsuccessful as well.
Smallville Saw Too Many People Learn About Clark's Powers
By having numerous characters discover Superman's secret identity, Smallville created a problem with its stories that would have made for a complicated and inevitably disappointing future. Throughout Smallville's 10-season run, a number of Clark Kent's closest friends and worst enemies discovered his abilities and his Kryptonian origins. The first was Clark's high school best friend, Pete Ross, followed by Chloe Sullivan and Lionel Luthor in season 5. Oliver Queen and Lana Lang both learned of Clark's powers in season 6, with Lex Luthor then finally uncovered his secret in season 7. Then season 8 saw Tess Mercer, Jimmy Olsen, and Davis Bloome (the human form of Doomsday) learn of Clark's power, with Lois Lane finding out in season 9.
Having so many important ing characters learn of Clark Kent's powers in Smallville was a bold choice, particularly as they all make the discovery before he ever adopts his iconic persona. As a result, future stories set in Smallville's world had to come up with creative workarounds for how Clark maintains his secret identity — something that even the later seasons of the show were forced to write in. Smallville really had little choice but to have those closest to Clark uncover his secret, but it was a very bold move that then needed to be retroactively worked around.
Smallville's “No Tights, No Flights” Presented A Weird Superman Issue
One of the core tenets of Smallville was that Clark Kent wouldn't be seen in the iconic Superman suit, nor would he take flight during the show's run. This rule was dubbed "no tights, no flights," and was Smallville's ultimate gimmick. Early on, it secured a large amount of interest in the show, as it promised an innovative and unique take on Superman's origins. By exploring Clark's younger years before he became the Man of Tomorrow, Smallville afforded a look at the more human side of the character and his upbringing in small-town America.
However, Smallville's success was the ultimate reason that this backfired, because its wildly popular 10-season run took a much deeper look at Superman's origins than anyone expected. This meant that the "no tights, no flights" rule stayed in place longer than it probably should have, even well after Smallville's protagonist left the titular town and started working as a Daily Planet reporter in Metropolis. Smallville took so long to make Clark Superman that the rule ended up hurting the show, as its final seasons essentially told Superman stories while Clark operated under different superhero names. In drawing out Clark becoming Superman, Smallville had nowhere else to go, as it established so much of the character before he finally donned the cape and tights that its version of the Man of Steel was actually perhaps too experienced.
Smallville's Missing DC Hero Was An Issue
One of Smallville's boldest decisions from its later seasons wasn't really a deliberate choice at all. The show saw Clark establishing a Justice League alongside Green Arrow, Aquaman, Flash/Impulse, and Cyborg. However, despite initial plans to the contrary, wasn't allowed to use Batman, and though Green Arrow simply stepped in to fill the role of Clark's non-superpowered vigilante contemporary, not using Batman was also a mistake in a sense.
As Batman and Superman are DC's two most iconic heroes, it only follows that viewers were keen to see Smallville's take on the Dark Knight. However, as Smallville was never allowed to use the character, its Justice League was forced to work around Batman's exclusion, and the show's wider DC universe was built without even a mention of Batman. This only backfired in as much as it prevented Smallville from ever truly living up to its potential as the starting point for a comprehensive DC shared universe, as it was too late to retroactively work Batman into its story. Though there was a good reason Smallville couldn't use Batman, it ended up hurting the show in the long run.
Making Clark And Lex Friends Was Smallville's Biggest Challenge
The biggest and most obvious way in which Smallville rewrote Clark Kent's story was that it made him and Lex Luthor close friends. Throughout the show's early seasons, Clark and Lex are shown to be practically inseparable, with the growing distrust between them serving as a major contributor to Lex's eventual transformation into a villain. This proved to be a fresh and intriguing approach to Superman and Luthor's origins, but as time ed, it became more of a curse than a blessing.
As Lex was always destined to be a villain, Smallville ran the risk of making the character too sympathetic. It avoided doing so, but it still gave him a generously positive early characterization, which gave the way that Smallville's Lex Luthor slowly became evil an unfortunate subtext. By linking Lex's villain turn to his friendship with Clark, Smallville inadvertently assigned an element of blame to its hero, because his secret keeping is the driving force behind Lex's obsession, which feeds his eventual slide into villainy. Though making Clark and Lex friends made Smallville's story all the more interesting, it actually proved to be a mistake in the end, and a retcon was needed to make Lex the iconic villain he was destined to become.
Why Smallville's Choices Affected Tom Welling's Superman Chances
The final way in which Smallville's Superman decisions backfired was at its lead actor's expense. Tom Welling's turn as Clark Kent was brilliant, and the young actor perfectly expressed the character's innocence and heroism, as well as the weight of his responsibilities to his loved ones and the world at large. Though he was perfect for the show, Smallville ensured that Tom Welling couldn't be Superman, mostly because he so wholly personified Clark's youth.
This is essentially Smallville's success backfiring: the nature of its premise meant that Welling was never intended to play the iconic hero, and the show's longevity made this a certainty. Although Welling would undoubtedly have made an excellent Superman, he simply became too associated with his version of Clark Kent, and that version was never meant to become Superman. This is the paradox of Smallville: it delivered one of the most beloved Superman stories of all time, but it did so without Superman — and that means that many of its boldest decisions were always doomed to backfire in the long run.