http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2010...-thinking-why-doesnt-he-just-put-on-the-suit/
Smallvilles Tom Welling knows what youre thinking: Why doesnt he just put on the suit?
Sept. 23, 2010 |
6:01 p.m.
Clark Kent is growing into the super man we all knew he could be as Smallville begins its 10th and final season on Friday. Jevon Phillips writes about the show and the actor who has portrayed Clark Kent longer than anyone else, Tom Welling.
Tom Wellings first memory on the set of
Smallville nine years ago was a chance meeting with a young production assistant named
Chris Petry. The actor waved at Petry, who returned the greeting. Almost a decade later, Petry is all grown up and now serves as one of the shows producers and occasionally directs. As for Welling, well, he is still
almost Superman.
The two of us were just sitting around the other day and going Eh, not too bad. Not too bad for nine years. [We've] done all right, said Welling, who is also an executive producer on the show and on the new
CW program
Hellcats.
The original vision for Smallville, which begins its 10th and final season Friday, was not to dazzle viewers so much with a red-and-blue-suited alien leaping tall buildings as it was to explore the early life of
Clark Kent, explained the 33-year-old actor. That character study has been as successful as anyone on the show could have imagined a decade ago and now a generation of kids and young adults know Welling as the defining image of a capeless Superman.
The shows creators,
Al Gough and
Miles Millar, embraced the opportunity to write a rich, new narrative for the iconic characters journey to manhood.
I know that sometimes weve done some things fans didnt like though other fans really appreciate but weve just going our own path knowing that eventually he would become Superman, said Welling, whose character still hasnt leapt a building in a single bound.
But come on 10 years of teasing fans with Clarks maiden flight?
Some people might be a little upset that its taken this long, but I think that we have to embrace the fact that if wed done it in the first season, the show would be over, said Welling. The whole point was to try to elongate this journey or this transition that Clark has to becoming Superman.
The show has endured challenges in its 10 seasons including the demise of its original network, the WB. The program has seen its viewership drop 8.4 million for the shows premiere in 2001 to 2.3 million for last years opener though thats not unusual for an aging show. And its faced the inevitable questions, especially from hardcore comic book readers about their narrative choices.
Its got its own continuity just like
Richard Donners
Superman, said
Geoff Johns, chief creative officer for
DC Entertainment, a comic book writer and an occasional writer for Smallville. Its built its own world, and its certainly a huge legacy. Its crazy
I mean Tom Welling has spent more hours as Clark Kent that anyone in history.
Many hail
Christopher Reeve (over, say,
George Reeves or
Dean Cain) as the quintessential Man of Steel, and
Brandon Rouths rendition in 2006′s Superman Returns was generally well received, but Wellings Smallville longevity gives him a special place in superhero lore.
When he [Welling] finally becomes Superman, he will be, to me, stepping into the role and becoming Christopher Reeve, said executive producer Brian Peterson. We really want it to end where a lot of people in the world
where their knowledge of Superman picks up. Our goal was not to create mythology but to fill in a gap of mythology.
But will fans be satisfied now that theyve waited?
I think the dilemma and the challenge this year is waiting until the end of the show, said Welling. At this point youre like, Why doesnt he just put on the suit? I mean, come on hes doing the same stuff now, so why not? Thats the challenge to make that last until the end. And speaking of the end, that issue presents a special challenge.
We all know that Clark doesnt die, said Welling. I just want the audience to get the feeling that I got watching [the "
24" finale]
a feeling of hope, and faith that hes going to continue, and that hes out there somewhere.
Jevon Phillips
t:
reading that makes me wanna hug you. i'm sure your positivley georgeous. tom would be lucky to have you 
