Fans of Smallville have long been frustrated by the “no flights” portion of producers Al Gough and Miles Millar “no flights, no tights” policy established 7 years ago at the start of the first season. As a matter of fact, as the series has evolved, the fact that Clark (Tom Welling) still does not fly on the show has become pretty ridiculous.
Many other characters on the show have had the ability to fly, including Clark’s cousin Kara (Laura Vandervoort) and other Kryptonians. On toleapsp of that, portraying Clark, who is virtually indestructible as having a fear of heights is at this point ridiculous – especially as we enter Smallville’s 8th (and supposedly final) season.
|
|
Sure, they’ve thrown us a bone here and there with him making giant “leaps” and actually showing him flying when he was possessed by other characters, but the producers have stubbornly clung to their original premise. As long as they were in charge we weren’t going to see Clark fly.
But they aren’t in charge any more.
Now we have Kelly Souders, Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer, and Brian Peterson running the show. Between them they’ve written 100 episodes over the course of seven years. That’s the equivalent of four full years of Smallville.
Comic Book Resources interviewed them recently and they had some interesting things to say about this upcoming season. While season 7 started to pull away from the arc of the previous six years and finally showed Lex go over completely to the dark side, it’s looking like season 8 will be a big leap forward in the evolution of the characters and the series.
Here are the highlights:
- They will not attempt to bring in a character to replace Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) as the prime antagonist.
- All of the characters will be moving on to the next phase of their lives.
- The show will be moving on to the next phase in the Superman mythology.
- They want to bring Clark closer to the traditional Superman character that we all know.
- There will be an episode that explores the relationship between Clark and Chloe (Allison Mack), and the underlying sexual tension that’s been brewing there for so long.
- On the other hand the season will move Clark and Lois (Erica Durance) towards the relationship that is well established in the comics and films.
- They will highlight the need for Clark to maintain a dual identity and move heavily in that direction.
Ah… but what about Clark flying?!
They dropped a couple of hints that leave me no doubt that he will indeed be finally taking to the skies this year:
“We have a lot of conversations [about flying and the costume], the only thing that we are saying is that we can absolutely confirm that there is no tights, so that’s pretty much all we can say on that.”
And:
“Saving people in Smallville was one thing — when he had to run to the factory to save Chloe the roads weren’t very crowded, the streets weren’t very crowded. Being alive in Metropolis as Superman is a very different experience and you will find very quickly in this season he discovers it’s not so easy when you’re running through crowded streets or your having to run into a crowded crisis situation.”
Take those two comments, along with their plan on moving the story towards the traditional Superman mythos and I’d say we’ll finally get our wish in the flight department.
Here’s what I’m hoping: This team of writers wants to really put their mark on the show as producers and will really hit it out of the park this year. It would be fantastic if this turned out to be the equivalent of Manny Coto coming on board Star Trek: Enterprise in its final season. That show had been ruined by the direction its producers had chosen, but Coto came in fresh in the final season and turned the show around big time.
And of course they’ve finally decided to get rid of Lana (Kristin Kreuk), thank goodness. That can’t do anything but help make the show better. And that’s NOT a slam on Kristin – they just ran the whole Clark/Lana thing so far into the ground that it became nauseating. Also gone is Kara, who never really worked for me as a character on the show.
Here’s hoping that season 8 of Smallville brings us better things than last season did.
Source: Comic Book Resources
Loading ...
154 Comments
Clark needs to fly at some point in smallville otherwise what was the point of the show, supermans biggest and most famous ability is not his super speed, nor his super strength but his ability to fly, even if its in the last episode….He needs to fly.
In my opinion ending in this season would be a mistake, it needs two more seasons, lex needs to come back, tess and doomsday are superb villains, but lex has that different edge to him, although i dont know how he would come back with him knowing clarks secret, unless he has amnesia, i think clark should fullfil his training at the end of this season , so naturally he can now fly, and right at the end lex would return , then next season, lex appears in about 5 episodes like lana this season, also would like to see the justice league again in a few episodes.
to all those lois and clark romance haters, i dont think they will end up together anyway, i remember reading a interview with one of the shows producers and he said they have two isdeas for plot arcs for where the show will end, one being an emotional realisation of giving p somethin(someone) he loved,and the other to leave. so i think it all depends on wether or not om welling signs a new contract or not, my opinion the giving up someone he loves is he needs to give up on love with louis to embrace his destiny as superman, either way he wont end up with lois , i would put my money on it lol.
I still believe a big screen movie with some of the Smallville cast, revealing Superman to the world for the first time, flying and in costume would be a great way to advance the show.
However I will make a prediction, Ifthe show ever ends, in the last episode you will probably finally see Tom in the Superman costume, flying off in the sunset.
Who would you like to see return?
Brainiac( James Masters form)
Pete ross
lana (again)
Lex
Martha kent
Kara
The Flash/Impulse
Cyborg
aquaman
I would love to se most of these return
Smallville is the story of a young man discovering his true identity and the powers he has and will develop. Smallville is a progression to the day Clark Kent assumes his duty and recognizes his worth to the community. The day Clark(Tom) assumes the costume, Smallville is over. Enjoy what we have had for 7 and a half years and hope that CW and Tom Welling will continue Smallville at LEAST for a 9th season!!! There are so many story lines that the new writers can go with that would keep US all enthralled!!. Enjoy Tom Welling for the fine acting and directing he has done: – after all TIGHTS do not make the MAN or Smallville. Let’s enjoy what we have and HOPE it continues.
I am soooo glad Lana is gone. My buddy and me watch this show religiously and we have hated her since the first season. Smallville is great but it got so annoying that the end of practically every episode was like a scene from Dawson’s creek. Let’s gaze into each other’s eyes and look hopelessly in love and sad at the same time. Yeck!
@ eric
Yeah i agree with you about lana, i didnt hate her but she was my least favourite character, i started hateing her since she was with lex, and i do agree that its better now she isnt a cast regualr however i think it would be a mistake to kill her off, just becase how much drama it stirs up when she returns.
Whos your fav characters of the entire show?
Mine are lex and lionel, i do like tom welling as clark, but lex and lionel i think play the character superbly well, they have that edge about them.
Lana should have been killed off the show when that car bomb went off instead of having her use it to fake her death. Either that or they should have had her fake her death and never come back. I’m getting sick of the how she goes away and then comes back all the time. They really need to get her out of the way so they can have Clark get with Lois.
I’m surprised that they haven’t had Martha Kent come back even for an episode, even if it is just a phone call to Clark. She called Lionel Luthor, but not Clark? Geez..
They can’t actually kill off Lana without violating a deeper story line. I realize that this story – Smallville – doesn’t follow the story line of Superman/Superboy exactly, but some things can’t be changed. One of them is Lana. Lana in the comic books remains an off and on love interest for Superman long into adulthood. They break up. She goes away (in the comics it was to become a TV reporter in another city, but that’s another story). She pops up from time to time to the increasing jealousy, frustration and angst of Lois, and Superman, who still can’t figure out how to choose between them. That’s an integral part of the Superman story (He has any number of girlfriends and other relationships which have the initials of LL – another part of the story). But somehow he always ends up coming back to Lois. They may kill off Chloe, but not Lana. She’s still a big part of his future.
I have never been much of a superman fan. He was far too black and white, two dimensional goody two shoes character for me to truly follow the entire storyline. I always enjoyed batman for his darker side and more realistic feel.
Now smallville was the first superman franchise that I actually started watching start to finish. It gives a lot of depth to the character and though I think there has been too much emphasis on angsty and sappy relationship between lana lang and clark, it is overall a rather unique portrait of clark kent in his struggle to grow up, become and man and embrace his future as superman.
A lot of people complain about him not flying or wearing tights but honestly, as someone pointed out, the day this happens is the day the show ends. I for one am enjoying the remaining episodes.
Besides, I always snicker when I see his tights. Seriously hahahaha who wears that. They look like a boy’s pj’s. I mean just picture if they had wolverine in the recent x-man movies running around in yellow spandex. Sounds retarded right?
Same thing about the damn glasses. That excuse was able to fly in the old comics but come on….who doesn’t recognize the person simply cause they put on glasses and act klutzy?
I for one am glad that they are confining the glasses and the tights to funny hints in some of the shows.
Anyway, season 8 is great so far and whether they wrap it up at the end or continue for another season, I’m sure it will only get better from here now that the whole lana/clark thing is over and he’s finally in metropolis and well on his way to become a superhero.
I can’t believe that everyone is talking only about flying. What’s so great about him flying in tights? It would be boring to see only action,fighting,etc. You need to have some contrast in the show like his love to Lana and his relationship with Lex to make things be more interesting. Through that we see how dedicate he is in trying to do the right thing and how strong he is in his believes. Without that he would be almost as some robot and he is just a teenager who finds out little by little who he really is and what is his purpose in this world. And one more thing, the producers didn’t kill off Lana and Lex, they actually left the show because they want to continue their acting career and Tom will also do the same at the end of this season before everyone mark him as Clark Kent for life.
Actually Smallville has signed on for a ninth season……..so Tom can start his career beyong smallville after next year…..
Scottigia is that a fact or (Tom signed for ninth season)? It would be great for a show. The writers and producers will have open hands for new plots…
well if you havnt noticed theyve not followed the comics for ALOT of smallville so him not flying yet and not having a costume dont really bother me, it be nice to see but not overly fussed, the whole idea of smallville is to show him BEFORE he is superman so as soon as he can fly and wheres tights is the day “the early years of superman” become just “superman” i mean doomsday isnt supposed to be in it yet, and whats the bet he DOSNT kill superman not just because he isnt superman yet but because they wont show clark die again for like the 100th time surely. but lana lang… finally gone jeez ive been saying that for a long time, and i hate that after a huge disaster they feel the need to make the ending happy chirpy and funny…. most the time theyve been near death or DEAD what the hells funny about that lol
First off I personally think this is the best show out on television right now….It’s really what made me like superman in the first place since I used to be totally against him lol. I think Tom has done an amazing job at protraying the man of steel. He’s gave the character depth. I also love Rosenbaum as Lex…..Probably my favorite character on the show. I hope they bring him back in someway before the show ends even if it’s just his voice to leave you hanging on wanting more only to upset you with nothing more lol.
I hope clark flys before the show is over. I think it should be one of the last things he does. I saw an awesome concept for a suit he should wear that would fit the show, but they’d never go with it on the show. Yeah I think they should end it with him being killed by doomsday and then at the end you see him rise from the grave and fly off….or see him leave the farm and tell his mom goodbye….or have him finally be a fulltime member of the justice league and go off with them. That’s just my opinion….Take it or leave it, but I think the show is amazing and can’t wait to see how it turns out. I’ll be sad to see it go tho!
true it is one of my favourite shows, but i just wish more episodes had endings like the one where Julian gets shot outside a restaurant or lex shoots his dad stuff like that was really gripping, but now they end every episode on a happy cheery lets laugh about whay just happened moment and tbh its putting me off at times, theres no need for it to be like superman version of the OC anymore like the first few seasons. also clark WILL be moving away from the farm, theyre moving the series to be more like the adventures of lois and clark the old tv show theyve already said thats why theres more joking going on especially with lois and clark, i just hope it dosnt go too far cause the old tv show, was a real drag after a while with all the jokes and not using super powers cause lois was around. im not liking the idea of that at all
Hi clark kent,
How are you doing today? I want to see clark kent and I want to tell him that I want to become a superman just like him?
Have a nice day
Sincerely
Maraphalla Chan
Go back to season 1, episode 2 —
Metamorphasis at the very beginning after the intro… clark is flying over lana’s bed in a dream, then he wakes up and he is floating above his own bed…
wtf is up with that?? teasing us with that one flying part in all 8 seasons?? it has never developed over the course of the entire show… gah… that is frustrating…
Go back to season 1, episode 2 —
Metamorphasis at the very beginning after the intro… clark is flying over lana’s bed in a dream, then he wakes up and he is floating above his own bed…
wtf is up with that?? teasing us with that one flying part in all 8 seasons?? it has never developed over the course of the entire show… gah… that is frustrating..
oh fun, lanas back, and she has super powers <.< am i the only person in a state of NONE grippedness lol seriously not only is it bad enough she is back but now we know that she has a legacy in clarks life thanks to the future justice league rawrrrr what a load of balls and WFT is DOOMSDAY???? he dosnt just come out and give clark a few days to have more adventures he strikes and breaks stuff get your heads out your ass an dont ruin this season of smallville ffs plz
I just posted this on another link for smallville and though i would here……I just read on kryptonsite that either episode 8-20 or 21 will have something very exciting transpire that will make all the smallville fans very happy. They also said that it is not that lex is returning but something else very cool……and being that episode 8-20 is titled “capes” i feel that Clark may finally get his flying ability……did anyone else here anything? Thanks
@ scottgia.
yeah i saw that too, it will blatently be clark FINALLY flying without a doubt.
i cant think of anything else it could be
Well this sounds really exciting clark will finally fly!!! weve had 2 wait for so long but its finally going 2 happen i dont know how long the sries will run for hopefully another season but my guess guess is the final ever episode wil see him in tights 2! i also ehard theres gonna be a spin off series about the justice leagur or legion wat ever lets hope thats true!!
I don’t know about other Smallville fans, but I’d be more satisfied with Lana getting killed off(biggest plot stall EVER!!!!!) than seeing him fly. The flying can wait till the last episode when they bust out the blue PJs for him to go save people in. But for the love of God, he finally was about to get it going with Lois, was working at the Daily Planet, and started saving people. Soon as Lana shows, he blows all that stuff off so he can debate if he’s really s’posed to be with her? And apparently the producer she’s blowing is very satisfied because now she’s the closest thing to Superman on the show! Geez…
@huntthejest
Well it looks like she’ll be off the show for at least a couple of episodes.
Vic
huntthejest
couldnt agree with you more oh man so on the same page there lol
and has anyone thought maybe that clark ISNT gona fly but that he either starts wearing an actual disguise or that they actually form the justice league or someone really cool comes into, although i do hope he finally flies
@huntthejest
Well, Lana has been…..
SPOILER ALERT!! SPOILER ALERT!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
infused with Krytonite, so she is out of the picture now; good riddens!!
That’s not gonna keep Kreuk outta the show. The last minute of this past episode was grueling. I mean, he walks over to her for a poison kiss? I hate the writers right now. Bring back the guys that wrote Justice, and the wedding episode(assuming its not the same guys, because they completely shifted gears after that episode back to the same old crap.) And where the hell did Doomsday go? How do you play one of your biggest cards and then just forget about him, and to move on to such new and exciting things as LANA, no less. I wanna see him use the glasses and start being a geek, and Holy Saint Francis! wouldn’t it be awesome if they could bring Batman(or at least Bruce) on the show? So far, Oliver Queen has served as a poor man’s(or at least upper middle class, considering he’s still worth billions) Bruce Wayne, and they’re making his character out to be something he’s not. Bruce is the playboy/champion of dark. Oliver is a hippie with a fortune 500 company that sticks up for the little guy. If Bruce makes an appearance, my overall opinion of this show goes up like 8 points!
Just to put the points system in perspective, hearing Robert de Niro is in a movie only makes it go up 2 points.
cudnt agree more with the guys who said about lana comming back making the show worse i mean dont get me wrong shes a good charecter but wen shes in it the show slows down while she was out he was about 2 take his destiny fully! i really hope hes gnna fly i nthat episode everyones talking about it must getting on everyones nerves by now its pretty rediculous i think that hes not learned yet but i do think tho that the episodes will get alot better how cool would it be if he finally put the suit on n joined the justuice league n had an epic battle with doomsday but we can only dream whats happend 2 doomsday anyway hes vanished any1 know ?
I can’t wait for clark to fly im so excited can’t wait
What's your opinion? Leave a Reply!
Go to Gravatar.com and upload your own (we'll wait)!