Smallville: Re-writing the Superman Mythos

When the credits closed on Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, many believed the nails had been pounded into Superman's coffin - on the silver and small screen, at least. Though the first two movies were deemed classics, the follow-ups were uninspired, campy, and sometimes downright goofy. Superman's live action adventures were over for the time being.

Die-hard fans didn't give up on "Big Blue", however, and though Superman didn't appear live for years, he lived on in DC comics and several different cartoon incarnations. DC Comics' s bold 1992 Death of Superman series reawakened widespread interest in Superman, and people started asking when they'd be seeing Superman return to live action.

Their answers were granted with Joel Shuster and Jerry Siegel's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which first aired on ABC in 1993. The series ran four solid seasons, an even though Lois & Clark ended in 1997, it headed into syndication on TNT, keeping the prospect of a new live action Superman fresh in everyone's mind.

At one point, director Tim Burton (A Nightmare Before Christmas) was at the helm of the next Superman movie, and Nick Cage was rumored as the next Man of Steel. For years, script development stalled, and eventually a free-for all began to replace Cage for the part; everyone from Heath Ledger (The Patriot), to David Boreanz (Bones) cast as the next Superman.

And then came the CW's, (formerly the WB), Smallville, starring Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kruek , and Jonathon Snyder, airing the fall of 2001. Smallville told the story of a young Clark Kent, struggling to live as a normal person - a superbeing among mortals. Currently in its sixth season, Smallville is going strong, and the end is nowhere in sight. Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, Smallville has somehow managed to break boundaries, introduce new territories in the Superman myth, while remaining true to the traditional Superman mythos.

Two of Smallville's ultimate strengths have been its casting and overall story development. From the very first episode, each character has been perfect. John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard) and Annette O'Toole (It) have been the best incarnation of the Kents I've ever seen - John Schneider especially; age has been much kinder to him than to Tom Wopat (Dukes of Hazzard). Michael Rosenbaum's (Sorority Guys) portrayal of Lex Luthor's descent into evil has been chilling, and Tom Welling (The Fog) is what Clark Kent always should have been: not "dorky" nor "mild-mannered", but a regular guy carrying an enormous destiny he's not sure he really wants.

One thing Smallville has done very well is take traditional elements of Superman: Brainiac, Zod, the Fortress of Solitude, different kinds of Kryptonite and their effects on Clark, Jor-El, The Phantom Zone, and tweaked them to create a brand new storyline that's fresh and imaginative, yet loyal to its roots. Other series have tried to do both and either failed; the WB's recent Bird of Prey; canceled before season's end; UPN's Enterprise, which lasted only four seasons. Case in point - casting Lex Luthor as a close, trusted friend of Clark Kent was a complete creation of Smallville, and it's worked masterfully - seeing someone utterly evil is not nearly as heartrending as seeing someone with good intentions who is sadly destined to be utterly evil.

After spending its first several seasons pitching itself as a sort of "teenaged X-files" - Clark battled all sorts of Kryptonite-irradiated threats created by the meteor shower that brought him to Earth - Smallville has jumped neck deep into the development of Clark's ultimate destiny. Roots of a future JusticeLeague have been planted - featuring guest spots from The Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman,and a re-occurring role for Oliver Green - AKA The Green Arrow.

This is an exciting, wonderful series that is writing whole new chapters in the sage of The Last Son of Krypton, and it's going to be interesting to see where it goes next.