Rumors started a few months back. Speculation ran wild ever since, but now it is official. Tom Welling will indeed be returning to the role he played on Smallville for ten seasons.
Deadline reports Welling will appear in this winter’s Crisis On Infinite Earths with his Smallville character intact. He joins the list of three actors playing different incarnations of Clark Kent, aka Superman.
Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim gives credit to the longrunning series for helping pave the way for shows like Arrow.
“For eight years, Arrow has stood on the shoulders of Smallville.” Deadline quotes Guggenheim as saying. “Simply put, there would be no Arrow, and no Arrowverse, without it. 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.”
Tyler Hoechlin joined the cast of Supergirl‘s second season in a recurring role as Superman. Brandon Routh, who coincidentally plays The Atom/Ray Palmer on Legends Of Tomorrow, portrayed Superman on the big screen in 2006’s Superman Returns. Both have been confirmed to appear as Superman in the five-part mini-series.
While no confirmation has been made on Welling suiting up and taking flight, it would be hard to imagine Clark Kent not turning into Superman in a story as epic as this.
Longtime fans know Crisis On Infinite Earths was a 12-part comic series that rebooted the continuity of DC Comics‘ universe. It also resulted in the deaths of a few key DC players. Arrow‘s Season 7 finale strongly implied that Green Arrow/Oliver Queen will bite the big one during the TV adaption of Crisis.
The first three parts of Crisis On Infinite Earths will air in December, with the final two parts airing in January after the holiday break. Characters from Arrow, The Flash, Legends Of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Black Lightning, and newcomer Batwoman will all taker part in some capacity.