How The CW Almost Brought Back Smallville's Lex Luthor
The long-running CW favorite "Smallville" isn't a traditional superhero adaptation. The DC series focuses on the youth of Clark Kent (Tom Welling) before he properly becomes Superman, helping out around the titular town and encountering numerous major DC Comics characters along the way. These include the Man of Steel's comic book arch-enemy, Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), who engages in all kinds of villainy throughout most of the program's 10 seasons. As it turns out, his story almost continued on the small screen years after "Smallville" concluded, thanks to a major CW DC event.
Marc Guggenheim — one of the minds behind much of The CW's sprawling DC franchise, the Arrowverse — revealed on Substack that he hoped to score Rosenbaum's Luthor for the entertaining yet confusing "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event. "I was eager to get Michael's Lex into the story if I could, so my brain started working on options that could be fit into the episodes that we were still shooting," he revealed, recalling that he tried to make a meeting between Rosenbaum and Jon Cryer's respective versions of Luthor happen. Unfortunately, no such scene or any other with Rosenbaum came to fruition.
Seeing as the "Crisis" event was a love letter to The CW's DC history and other adaptations, Rosenbaum's Luthor would've been a perfect fit for it. Though he didn't make it in, at least his biggest "Smallville" adversary did.
At least Tom Welling's Clark Kent returned for Crisis on Infinite Earths
To put it lightly, "Smallville" was a game-changer for The CW. It was a pretty popular show in its time and won over countless DC fans, paving the way for such iconic titles as "Arrow" and "The Flash" to later find success. Thus, it was only right that "Crisis on Infinite Earths" paid homage to the series. The minds responsible for it couldn't find a spot to put Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor, but at least they hinted at his post-"Smallville" exploits and provided some closure for the Kryptonian — and the actor behind him — the series was built around.
In "Crisis on Infinity Earths: Part Two," Tom Welling returns to play Clark Kent one more time. Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) visits his Earth with the intent to kill him with a piece of Kryptonite, only to learn that he gave up his powers long ago. The reason? To live a normal life on his farm with his wife, Lois Lane (Erica Durance), and their children. Clark also mentions that Rosenbaum's Luthor has become President of the United States, keeping the "Crisis" episode in line with the "Smallville" finale where it's revealed that he's elected to the position in 2018. Marc Guggenheim noted that this entire scene was shot as he and his team were unsuccessfully trying to find a place for Rosenbaum to cameo.
One last encounter between Welling's Superman and Rosenbaum's Luthor would've made an already fan-service-filled "Crisis on Infinite Earths" event all the more special. One can only hope that in some way, shape, or form, such a reunion will take place. Perhaps in "Smallville" Season 11, if it ever comes to pass?