Tom Welling To Reprise ‘Smallville’ Role For CW’s Arrowverse Crossover

Apparently, there can’t be too many Supermen in one place. According to Entertainment Weekly, Tom Welling is set to reprise his Smallville role as Clark Kent in The CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earth’s crossover. He will be joining Supergirl’s Tyler Hoechlin and DC’S Legends of Tomorrow’s Brandon Routh who have also played the man of steel in their respective times and universes.

For a decade, Welling played the young Clark Kent in Smallville. It chronicled the young Superman’s journey from his time living as a small-town superhero up until taking his superhero duties to the city all the while without donning the iconic suit. This whole journey culminated in the series finale where Welling finally put on the cape and tights and flew off to fight Darkseid.

“We jumped onto this idea that at the end of the show,” Welling said in an interview with EW about the finale. “The idea is that Clark becomes Superman and he’s out there, and we know he’s out there, but we can’t go with him, but that we know and we feel good that he’s out there doing good.”After the series, however, Welling was reluctant to revisit the role. Since then, Tom Welling has appeared in Parkland, Lucifer, and Draftday. 

Tom Welling Steps Back Into The Superhero World

According to Deadline, ever since talks of the crossover began, the Arrowverse producers were keen on featuring different versions of Superman in different time frames. However, the most difficult part was getting Welling to sign on. But now, it seems that The CW has said something right to make Welling reconsider and agree to a crossover guest stint.

Arrow co-creator and executive producer Marc Guggenheim expressed his excitement for the casting and just how much it mattered to their plans. “For eight years, Arrow has stood on the shoulders of Smallville. Simply put, there would be no Arrow, and no Arrowverse, without it,” he said in an interview with Deadline. “So when we first started talking about Crisis on Infinite Earths, our first, second and third priorities were getting Tom to reprise his iconic role as Clark Kent. To say that we’re thrilled would be a Superman-sized understatement.”

It isn’t clear whether Welling will surely don the red cape, like Routh and Hoechlin or simply appear as Clark Kent. But what’s sure is that the crossover will reveal what happened to his Superman in the years following Smallville.

The Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover will cover all five Arrowverse shows include Batwoman which will last five hours and will carry over the midseason break. It kicks off with Supergirl on Dec. 8, followed by Batwoman and The Flash the next two days. It continues after the winter hiatus on Jan. 14 with a back to back episode of Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow.