In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Tom Welling reveals that he was in talks to appear on “Supergirl” at the start of Season 2, but he knocked back the suggestion for various reasons.
“I know Greg [Berlanti] quite well and there had been some discussion, but they’re different worlds,” Welling told EW. “There was an idea that maybe Supergirl, appearing on that, but it’s such a different show. I’m older now, I don’t look the same. Appearing on that show as Clark Kent or even Superman, for me, I would not want to watch me do that at all. They just have such a different tone.”
Welling played the role of Clark Kent on the TV series “Smallville” for 10 seasons… but many fans were unhappy that they never really got to see him as Superman in the Series Finale.
He tells EW.com, “Our series finale was supposed to be, in the first act, Clark puts on the suit and flies around, saves Lois on a plane, and does this other stuff. It was a call that I had with Peter Roth, who is the head of Warner Bros. Television, who’s a good friend of mine and we have a great relationship. I said, ‘That’s not our show, Peter.’ He’s like, ‘No, it’s going to be great,’ and I go, ‘Yeah, but just think about what we’ve been doing. If we just jump into that, we haven’t earned it.'”
“We jumped onto this idea that at the end of the show, 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,” Welling says. “That was what we strove for, and I think we hit it. I liked the ending of the series, because it’s like, ‘Yes, he did it!’ I hope the audience didn’t feel like we didn’t show them something that they needed to see. I felt like we gave them the jumping off point for their imagination as to what could happen.”
Tom Welling returns to TV playing a new character on “Lucifer”, which returns on October 2 on FOX.
as a fan of smallville who is not embarrassed to admit watching 10 seasons, i feel like he knows he let down his fans and has been trying to justify it ever since. whether i agree with his decision or not, this too feels like a simple justification for being ashamed to appear in supergirl because of typecasting. i loved him in the role but outside, i see no humbleness or gratitude like others who’ve portrayed the role. just my opinion. too bad…
I’ve read interviews from the writers to the man’s own commentaries on the DVD/Blu-ray releases and you learn pretty quick that he’s a pretty selfish guy.
He was a model turned actor who wanted a career in entertainment and yeah he’s scared to death over being typecast. He’s never read a single comicbook and he’s proud of it.
That’s acting, being good at it means that you are convincing at playing something that you are not.
To be typecast he’d have to first BE cast. Look on IMDB, he’s only had 4 acting jobs since Smallville. And only 12 all together.
I can’t stand him anymore. After what he did in Smallville,I just don’t like him.
I disagree. The man doesn’t answer to you or anyone. I can’t stand you either.
You know there’s a lot of Smallville fans who weren’t and still aren’t Superman fans and I think that’s what the show intended from the start. Of course there are those who became Superman fans because of the show. Tom Welling didn’t sign up to play Superman he signed up to play Clark Kent. I’m fine with that. The series was never about Superman and I don’t think it was ever intended to be. The biggest problem it had was that it went too long. I think the ending would have been a lot less grating to Superman fans if… Read more »
It’s sad that he’s so against playing Clark again. I’m one of the biggest Smallville fans on the planet and I was not overly happy with the finale. I can understand his logic but doesn’t mean I have to agree. The show was about Clark becoming superman, the journey, but to not get at least one flipping full fledge shot of him in the suit was downright asinine! 10 years waiting for superman and all we got were bits and pieces in the end. I love all the little winks along the way but it did not fulfill its duty… Read more »
I agree. That wasn’t Superman at all. That was, ironically, a CGI Red-Blue Blur. And that final shirt-rip did nothing to remedy the situation.
Sorry, Mr. Welling. You had a chance to be Superman for even a few moments and you decided not to do so. Your Clark had his share of heroic moments, but in the end, he was no Superman.
As much as I would have loved for him to wear the suit the whole last episode (Hell, the whole last season) I get that thematically, he thinks it makes more sense to save that for the big finale and then end the show. Because the show SHOULD end when Clark becomes Superman. But my problem was and always will be that, after ten years, we should have seen Tom IN the suit, clearly and finally, for closure and resolution and just for the simple freaking PAY-OFF of waiting ten years. Those last few minutes would have suited me just… Read more »
It would have been really cool if Tom had worn the suit because it would have been, both, Clark Kent & Tom Welling both embracing their destinies. 🙂
But, alas, Clark Kent did. Tom Welling embraced another destiny. I, personally, don’t agree with it, because I don’t think wearing the costume in the last few minutes of the final episode would have changed his career path. But, I’m also not him and don’t know what is best for his personal life and/or his career.
I wish Tom the best in the present and the future. 🙂
I’m disappointed that he turned down appearing on Supergirl as well. He could’ve played a Superman from an alternate universe just Like what John Wesley Shipp is doing on the Flash. The reason I say alternate is because Smallville, and Supergirl have two different continuities. I wonder if Tom knew it wasn’t the same universe. I think it would’ve been cool to see Smallville’s Superman and Supergirl team up with Supergirl’s Supergirl and Superman. I mean they did established the Multiverse for the current shows. Who knows? Maybe he will change his mind. Or maybe he might be casted as… Read more »
I would imagine he knew it was not the same universe. I, personally, think he simply does not want to wear the costume. Clearly, everything I have said is pure speculation on my part. 🙂
I guess the question I have to ask is did Tom Welling ever want to be Superman? Don’t get me wrong, he did a superb job in Smallville. No one else could’ve done a better job as Clark Kent for that show in my opinion, But I’m just wondering if he was more comfortable playing Clark Kent than Superman. Maybe he was afraid of being type casted as Superman?
Though I did enjoy the series despite its flaws and some really bad episodes…It was kind of a letdown not to see Tom in full costume but rather some cheap CGI. He had his reasons for apparently not being typecast and when the producers approached him at the start he turned the role down…twice. Until he was convinced otherwise. It is what it is and there is no change. Too bad though. All in all I wish Tom nothing but the best in his career. Maybe it’s a good thing he didn’t accept a role on Supergirl.
Good for him. Supergirl sucks.
Aw, somebody needs a hug! 🙂
I agree. Tom Welling is going to be on my favorite show Lucifer. He’s going to be a cop but later I think he’s going to be playing Michael Demiurgos, Lucifer’s brother. Just a hunch.
I loved watching Smallville. I remember doing marathons with friends when we didn’t have school. 🙂 Anyway, based on interviews I’ve seen him do, there was always an excuse as to why he would not be able to wear the Superman suit. Therefore, I simply concluded that he did not want to wear it. I likened it to if someone were to ask me out and I kept giving excuses as to why I was not available, it would be because I am not interested. I accepted that Tom Welling did not want to wear the Superman suit and therefore,… Read more »
This proves that Welling was the problem in regards to the show not having Superman on screen. True, there are other people in regards to other problems (“cough”Millar & Gough”cough”), but he was a problem that made me question if things would be better if he was recast starting with season 9 or something.
When the studio wants what the fans wanted this whole time, and your actor says no, YES! HE IS THE PROBLEM!
He totally blew it.
Your opinion. He rocks imho Tom will always be a better Superman than Henry Cavill and Tyler Hoechln. I’m not alone. He still has his huge fanbase. He’s going to rock on Lucifer (I’m a Lucifer fan). I’ve met Tom Welling and Henry Cavill in person. Tom is huge and bigger than Henry Cavill. As much I like Henry, Tom will always be my Superman. He’s as tall as Ben Affleck. He’s the closet thing to Christopher Reeve in my book. Smallville will always have a special place in my heart. If there’s going to be a Smallville Reunion, obviously… Read more »
Let the Tom Welling bashing begin!!! *Sarcasm* I’m glad he’s back on Television. I’m glad he decided to not to appear on Supergirl. The Supergirl sucks balls. The way they castrated Superman to make Supergirl his superior, oh hell NO. Tom’s Superman is precrisis level. No need for the show to mess that up. Tom deserves better treatment than what this site and you guys offer. I been keeping track on this site for years. This site hasn’t mentioned anything about Tom Welling for awhile, not even last week’s Comic Con about Tom’s casting on Lucifer. But as soon as… Read more »
Sorry…”Welling Bashing site”
There seems to be one major point here that gets constantly over looked. This was a weekly TV show not a major movie. The CW has a track record of doing things differently than following the comic book ways. I would say that most of us watched that show because of one thing,..”Superman”. Every week I watched, there was always in the back of my mind, “Superman”. They did so many things in the 10 years. Borrowed just about everything from previous Superman movies. And we watched them all unfold around Clark Kent with out Superman. 10 years!! Whether you… Read more »
would have liked to see him as Jor-El
I hope to meet Tom Welling one day. I already met Dean Cain, and he is such a nice guy.
“I hope the audience didn’t feel like we didn’t show them something that they needed to see”
Well, I sure felt like it.
The show was about the journey is a lame excuse. It would be like a murder movie that finishes just before they announce the murderer, and using the excuse that the movie was just about the investigation…