"There Would Be No Arrowverse Without Smallville", Says Co-Creator Miles Millar

If the Arrowverse was, for many years, an absolute success on TV worldwide, one of the main reasons for that was Smallville. Despite not being part of the shared universe started in Arrow (2012-2020), the series starring Tom Welling paved the way for new live-action adaptations of heroes.

“There’s no Arrowverse without ‘Smallville'. We had the misfortune of having a regime change just as we were beginning to start our own spin-offs and everything like that,” noted Miles Millar, co-creator of the series, in an interview with TheWrap.

According to the showrunner, Smallville faced strong resistance behind the scenes. “The CW basically became the amalgam of UPN and The WB. The WB folks were all sort of shown the door, and UPN came in and they had a very different point of view about what the network should be — and it was definitely not ‘Smallville.’ They tried to kill ‘Smallville’ for the remainder of the time we were there. They didn’t see it fit into their version of that network, it was only after that regime sort of had also been shown the door that it changed.”

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It's worth remembering that there were some attempts by the producers to expand the Smallville universe. A pilot for Aquaman, starring Justin Hartley , was even filmed, but it wasn't picked up for production. The actor was even invited to join the cast of the original series in the role of Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow, a character he played during the show's final seasons. Alan Ritchson, now known for starring in Reacher, ended up playing Arthur Curry/Aquaman in Smallville.

After Smallville ended, there were talks to continue the series' universe with a spin-off focused on Hartley's Green Arrow. The project was, however, altered to start a new story, and Stephen Amell ended up taking on the role of Oliver Queen in Arrow, which launched the so-called Arrowverse.

Everything you need to know about Smallville

Smallville aired for ten seasons, between 2001 and 2011, showcasing the adventures of young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) and various other teen versions of DC heroes and villains.

In addition to Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum, the cast included Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan, Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang, Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, and Aaron Ashmore as Jimmy Olsen, among others.