Smallville's Tom Welling Dons Superman Suit In Incredible DC Concept Designs

Years before "Arrow" and "The Flash" represented the DC brand on The CW, there was "Smallville." The series chronicles the early life of Clark Kent (Tom Welling) in the titular town as he hides his emerging Kryptonian abilities from his friends and potential enemies. Throughout the program, several other iconic DC heroes and villains make their presence felt, with some even donning interpretations of their comic book costumes. However, "Smallville" never gives fans a full look at Clark in his red and blue Superman outfit, only offering them a handful of brief glimpses.

Thankfully, Instagram user @‌buffy2ville decided to help Superman fans out in this regard. They've provided some different concept looks at Welling's Clark as Superman, and both are sights to behold. One of these pieces is moody, with harsh shadows and a muted color palette evoking the look of Henry Cavill's Superman in "Man of Steel." Another work is far more Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh-inspired, with a vibrant red and blue color scheme across the suit. To really put it over the top, this piece depicts Welling's Superman flying through the sky with his red cape flowing behind him.

These images just go to show how perfect Welling could've looked in a full-on Superman suit on "Smallville." Of course, this begs the question, why didn't the suit ever fully appear on the long-running program?

One of the biggest critiques fans have thrown at "Smallville" over the years is the lack of time spent with Tom Welling's Clark Kent in his Superman suit. It's shown throughout the series, and, for a brief time, he wears a more casual version of the black and gray suit, but there's no big triumphant suit-up at any point. Though it's easy to call this an odd choice in the modern era, where comic-accurate costumes are all the rage, as Welling himself has explained, "Smallville" isn't the kind of show where a Superman suit is necessary.

"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," the actor explained to Entertainment Weekly in 2017. In his eyes and those of the many involved in the production of "Smallville," the series is more about Clark becoming Superman than living as his heroic persona. He added that the first act of the series finale was even supposed to have Clark in full Superman regalia doing heroic things, but even that felt like too much for the show. In the end, only a quick shot of Clark revealing the Superman emblem on his chest made it into the final episode.

Even though we never got to see Tom Welling's Clark Kent become Superman on "Smallville," at least his lack of a proper superhero suit inspired artists across the internet — such as @‌buffy2ville — to interpret what such a suit-up could've looked like.