Was Ian Somerhalder's Smallville Character Batman? Here's The Truth

Fans of "Smallville" always hoped to see Batman arrive in the television series. However, neither Bruce Wayne nor Batman made their CW live-action debut in the show. Despite the lack of Batman in "Smallville," co-creator Alfred Gough revealed actor Ian Somerhalder's character, Adam Knight, introduced in the show's third season, was their soft-launch of the Caped Crusader that never came to fruition.

Appearing on Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum's "Smallville" rewatch podcast TalkVille, Gough said: "[Bruce Wayne] was a name we were clearly trying to put out there, but we could never get Batman. At that point, it was off the table because [Christopher] Nolan was literally making "Batman Begins" at this point."

There were a few hints Knight could have become Batman in the "Smallville" universe, including his name being a combination of "Batman" actor Adam West and The Dark Knight, the fact he had martial arts training and was a technology expert, and that he was an orphan. Unfortunately, with "Batman Begins" in production and DC Comics not allowing "Smallville" to use the character, Knight didn't end up transforming into Batman. Instead, Somerhalder's Knight, who came to Smallville after being resurrected, would go mad after not getting the Lazarus Serum he needed to survive, killing the doctor responsible for the serum before dying himself due to withdrawals. 

While "Smallville" ran for ten seasons from 2001 to 2011 and introduced a handful of major players in the DC Universe on the small screen, including Green Arrow, Zod, Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman, the show wasn't allowed to use some of the comic book world's most prominent heroes and villains.

Besides Batman never appearing on "Smallville," Wonder Woman also didn't show up throughout its long run. Writer Bryan Q. Miller said in an interview with CBR that there were plans to have Diana Prince in the series, but another project led to those storylines being nixed: "If memory serves, we were in preliminary discussions as to how to introduce her as a character for a short arc on the show. Then, right in the middle of that, the [David E.] Kelley pilot popped into existence, and access to Diana fell away."

Additionally, Miller mentioned in a separate conversation there were hopes to introduce the villain Vandal Savage, portrayed by former "Superman & Lois" actor Dean Cain. However, at the last minute, production was told someone else planned on using the character in some fashion: "We had to change it to a generic character named Curtis Knox and it was inferred that he was probably Vandal Savage. Stuff like that would come up all the time, not just with Batman."

DC handcuffed what characters "Smallville" could use, so Batman, Wonder Woman, or Vandal Savage didn't appear in live-action. The strict rules are also why Clark Kent never transformed into Superman until the Season 10 finale. Ultimately, Ian Somerhalder's Adam Knight not becoming Batman represents one of the show's greatest missed opportunities.