The Arrowverse‘s Crisis On Infinite Earths gave Smallville a final ending – and it was perfect. The fact that Tom Welling reprised his iconic role as Clark Kent, and he was joined by Erica Durance returning as Lois Lane, was Crisis‘ biggest draw for Smallville fans and they didn’t disappoint. Set during Crisis On Infinite Earths Part 2, which occurred during Batwoman‘s hour, the Smallville homage officially made the beloved Superman TV series part of Arrowverse canon.
Of course, Smallville did already have a satisfying conclusion. After its historic 10-season run as The WB’s flagship series (before the network became The CW), Smallville ended in 2011 with Clark fulfilling his destiny by becoming Superman. Smallville‘s finale included a flashforward to 7 years later that saw Clark and Lois settled in their classic roles as Daily Planet reporters while Kent continued his adventures as Superman. Clark’s exploits as the Man of Steel were documented in DC Comics’ canonical Smallville Season 11, where he met Batman, Wonder Woman, and formally created the Justice League. Still, as the Arrowverse, which followed in the wake of Smallville‘s success, became TV’s greatest superhero shared universe, fans clamored for Tom Welling’s series to be canonically recognized as part of its Multiverse. And even though Smallville was homaged in 2018’s Elseworlds crossover by showing Supergirl‘s Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) at the Kent Farm, which was identical to Smallville‘s, set to the show’s unforgettable theme song, “Save Me” by Remy Zero, fans still yearned to see Welling himself appear in the Arrowverse.
Thanks to Crisis, fans’ wishes finally came true in an ideal last hurrah for Smallville‘s Lois and Clark. As Supergirl‘s Clark, Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch), and Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton) discovered when they traveled to the Kent Farm on Earth-167, Welling is still every bit as impressive as Clark Kent so many years later. Even when Earth-38’s Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) appeared, aiming to kill Smallville‘s Superman with Kryptonite, Clark was non-plussed because he knew something Lex didn’t: Kent gave up his powers so that he could live a normal life and have a family with Lois. Even without his abilities, Clark still easily leveled Luthor with a punch while confidently asserting that he’s “still stronger”. A disappointed Lex bid a hasty retreat as Lois came out to fetch her Man of Steel, teasing him that he finally learned to tell a joke after “a decade” when he tried to explain about alternate Lex Luthors and the end of the Multiverse. The scene was charming, impeccably performed by Welling, Durance, and the other actors, and it was perfectly Smallville.
While it’s disappointing that Smallville‘s Lex Luthor, Michael Rosenbaum, who many fans feel is still the definitive Luthor, didn’t join in the crossover (but he was referenced as the President of the United States), Welling and Durance’s sparkling chemistry shined and they proved more than enough to give Smallville its final moment in the sun. Sadly, Welling did not wear a Superman suit, which dashed hopes of getting to finally fully see him as Superman, but the actor only appearing as a depowered Clark Kent is the Arrowverse cleverly honoring Smallville‘s “No Flights, No Tights” rule, which was fitting. Moreso, Welling has never needed tights and a cape to covey that he is absolutely Superman.
Indeed, Smallville‘s Crisis moment was made even better by the Easter eggs of Daily Planet front pages that showed Clark’s many victories as Superman, including the headlines “Caped Wonder Stuns City” and “I Spent The Night With Superman”. These were loving callbacks to the fact that Smallville was the original successor to the classic Superman movies and Christopher Reeve himself appeared in the series to pass the torch to Welling. Further, Smallville‘s scene was uplifting because it showed Clark, after everything he’s been through, happy as a father and husband living a normal life on his beloved family farm. It’s a riff on the idea of Kingdom Come Superman in the comics, who isolated himself in grief at the Kent Farm, but Smallville‘s version is infinitely better because it showed that Clark did save the world multiple times as Superman and he chose to give it up for love and to have two daughters with the woman of his dreams.
And, even though Smallville‘s Earth-167 was one of the infinite worlds destroyed by Crisis, the Arrowverse producers were thankfully wise enough to know that no one wanted to see Welling and Durance’s Clark and Lois die on screen. Instead, despite billions of deaths, Crisis On Infinite Earths bucked the gloom and doom to show that Smallville‘s Lois and Clark indeed got the heartwarming happy ending that they deserved and fans always wanted for them.
