A few of the DC Comics superheroes in Smallville played active roles in Clark Kent’s destiny to become Superman. In the early seasons of the Superman prequel series, the people in Clark’s life were primarily characters from his own comics, such as Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), and Pete Ross (Sam Jones III), but as the scope of the series began to expand beyond Superman’s hometown, heroes and villains from other corners of the DC Universe were eventually incorporated.
Smallville took a big step in season 4 when it introduced Bart Allen (Kyle Gallner), the fourth version of the Flash in the comic books. What Bart taught Clark (Tom Welling) is that not every super-powered individual gets their abilities from Kryptonite. Bart’s debut also started an unofficial tradition in which Smallville would bring in at least one new DC Comics hero every season. Bart’s guest appearance was followed by team-ups with Cyborg (Lee Thompson Young) and Aquaman (Alan Ritchson). As the series progressed, Clark also crossed paths with Green Arrow (Justin Hartley), Zatanna (Serinda Swan), Booster Gold (Eric Martsolf), and more.
Clark never did get to encounter Batman, Green Lantern, or Wonder Woman, but he did meet most major Justice League members. He even got to meet the Wonder Twins and the Justice Society. Since their main purpose in the show was to provide fun adventures for Clark and his friends, a great number of the superheroes he enjoyed team-ups with were simply recurring characters or one-and-done special guest stars. However, a few of these characters ended up becoming integral to Clark’s journey. These heroes actually helped push Clark toward putting on the cape and tights. Here’s who they were, and how they contributed to the fulfillment of Kal-El’s destiny in Smallville.
Green Arrow
In Smallville season 6, a battle between Clark and the Green Arrow resulted in the two of them learning each other’s secrets. What Oliver Queen saw in Clark Kent was a great deal of untapped potential. Having seen what Clark was capable of, he often felt that Clark was wasting his abilities by staying on the Kent Farm. He was the first character who put into Clark’s head this idea that he wasn’t doing enough with his powers. Clark had met plenty of people who tried to make him feel that he was making a difference, but the message that Oliver gave him was the complete opposite of what he had been told in the past. Oliver called Clark out for staying in Smallville to help the people closest to him, when he could have been in big cities like Metropolis, looking for people to save rather than waiting for trouble to find him.
Oliver wasn’t wrong when he described how Clark used his powers. It was true that in the first seven seasons of Smallville, most of his problems were related to conflicts connected to Lana, Chloe (Allison Mack), Lex, Lois (Erica Durance), or someone else in his life. It wasn’t until later that Clark started seeking out people in need of help. His decision to become vigilante can be partially credited to Oliver Queen and the influence he had on him in Smallville seasons 6 and 7.
Martian Manhunter
In a season 6 episode, Clark was attacked by one of the aliens who escaped from the Phantom Zone and sent into a dream-like state. The person who saved him from it was J’onn J’onzz aka Martian Manhunter (Phil Morris), an alien warrior from the planet Mars. After meeting J’onn, Clark learned that Martian Manhunter had been on Earth for years, watching over him as a guardian angel. Apparently, he was given by a mission by Jor-El to make sure Clark stayed safe, but was also told to keep his presence a secret. That became impossible when Clark put himself in danger by targeting the Phantom Zone escapees.
Martian Manhunter continued to recur on Smallville, often to give advice and help Clark with his problems. In season 7, he helped Clark destroy Bizarro, an opponent that Clark couldn’t beat alone. Later, he flew a dying Clark into the sun to restore his powers. Unfortunately, this risky move cost him his abilities. In season 9, Martian Manhunter worked in secret with Martha Kent (Annette O’Toole) to safeguard Clark from a new group of government-sanctioned villains. Always being around to protect Clark and constantly saving him at the last minute summarizes his purpose on Smallville. Jor-El had a plan from the beginning for Clark to complete his destiny, and Martian Manhunter played an instrumental part in it.
Supergirl
During his high school years, Clark was always learning lessons about the burdens that came with his powers, how to use him, when not to use them, and more. These were all things that Clark acquired from his talks with Martha and Jonathan Kent (John Schneider). Clark found out what it was like to be in their position when he met his biological cousin, Kara (Laura Vandervoort), in season 7. Through the first half of the season, Clark had to teach her many of the same lessons that were taught to him. There was a bit of a role reversal for Clark and Kara in season 10, when she returned from a long hiatus.
While Clark had basically stagnated in terms of his evolution into Superman, Kara had already transformed into her comic book counterpart. In fact, she was more like Superman than Clark was at this point. She even had his iconic disguise from the comic books. She explained to Clark that she needed a disguise in order to blend in. This scene left the implication that Clark would later pick up this trick from her. Kara also tried to teach Clark how to fly, but he wasn’t ready yet (which falls in line with the show creators’ “no tights, no flights” rule). Kara helped Clark to free his mind of distractions, in the hope that he would be able to fly in the future and avoid being possessed by Darkseid.
Hawkman
In Smallville season 9, Justice Society leader Hawkman (Michael Shanks) set a big example for Clark, who had recently taken command of Green Arrow’s Justice League. Clark met Hawkman at a time when he still had his doubts about both himself and his own team. Clark had previous issues with his team members, such as the time he kicked Green Arrow off the team and the incident where they went against his orders in the fight with Doomsday. Furthermore, he and Oliver still had situations where they didn’t see eye-to-eye. When Clark expressed his concerns about them “not being much of a team,” Hawkman reminded Clark that his allies have flaws just like anyone else, and that they will make mistakes.
It appeared that his words had an effect on Clark, because in the episodes that followed, he seemed more willing to put faith in his fellow superheroes. Superman’s ability to believe in people is one of the comic book character’s most important qualities and one of the reasons why he’s so respected by the Justice League. It was always present in some degree in Smallville’s Clark Kent, but at the same time he didn’t know how to inspire people or how to be a true leader. He developed a better understanding of this after getting to know Hawkman and the Justice Society.
