July 26, 2009 | by Bruce Simmons 

Smallville Comic-Con 2009 Panel

Smallville Season 9

Panel attendees included Justin Hartley, Erica Durance, Kelly Souders, Tom Welling, Brian Peterson, Allison Mack, Cassidy Freeman & Callum Blue.

Smallville will be premiering season 9 on Friday, Sept 25th.  The DVD for season 8 will be coming out on August 25th.

Writing alum Jeff Loeb moderated, and did a great job,

We then saw the season 9 preview.

It started by saying a hero will rise, and we saw a lot of recap scenes, but then we saw a few from season 9.  Clark is wearing a suit folks.  But it’s not red and blue.  It’s black with a black “S” on the chest.  He looks like Neo from The Matrix, but he does wear it well.

“Batman” asked when he’ll be on the show but they somehow managed not to answer the question, though they gave him Tom Welling’s name tag.

Lois will be in many of the episodes in season 9.

At the time of auditions for Clark, the initial audition was for body size, then a script.  The first time, Welling needed to be prompted to go to the audition and he thought it was all about the man in the suit and then after reading the script, realized it was different.

Allison Mack said that Chloe was going to be a different ethnicity and threw them a loop when she showed up with attitude.

Callum Blue thought he was auditioning for a role named Mason.

Q: Is Lex really dead?  As we know from mythos, Lex is never really dead.

Tom Welling will be directing 2 episodes this year.  It’s like 2 hands feeding one mouth, directing.  Allison said loves when Tom directs.  Very loving, excited approach.

Allison will also be directing this season.

Q:  Some are amazed about the slow progress of Clark’s developing powers, but this flying only with a red kryptonite ring is getting old.  Will he be flying on his own?

Flying is addressed in the season premiere.

Geoff Johns will be writing an episode this year.

Callum Blue will play General Zod on Smallville

Callum Blue keeps getting asked to say “Kneel before Zod.”  It’s pretty good.

I didn’t catch the question, but the girl asking Tom Welling said to take a long time answering so that Tom can keep staring at her.

He took a dramatic pause between each word and all we got was a sigh from the microphone at that point.

They don’t have to stall with their story telling because they have 2 seasons of stories to tell.  Now whether they get to season 10, that’s another question.

Metallo will be in the first 2 episodes.  We’ll also be seeing the return of Toyman, Roullete and 2 new DC characters but they can’t say who until the casting has been announced.

Green Arrow -  we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in season 9.

They’re doing some back story on Oliver Queen this upcoming season.  He’ll hit rock bottom in the first episode.

About Getting Into Character:

Harltey gets into character by reading the script and finding what’s the tale of the day.

Tom Welling just says the writers are so great, it’s easy to get into character for shooting.

Allison Mack relates what’s happening in the show with real world events and brings a kind of awareness to the character.

Callum Blue listens to hard core music and punches himself in the face a few times.

There don’t seem to be any plans to bring Jimmy Olsen back.

Someone asked if there are any movie plans with this cast but rather than an answer, all the panel did was ask the audience if they wanted a movie.

They did that a lot with a lot of the questions asked.

tom welling as clark kent on smallville

And will Chloe have a love interest next season?  Chloe and Clark?  No, Chloe will not have anything going one with Clark because he’s occupied with a few women in his life.  Chloe will be healing from Jimmy’s passing in the front of the season, though it seems she’d like to have Justin Hartley in her life?  But that was more a wishful thought, considering the gleam in her eye.

This was Tom Welling’s first ever Comic-Con appearance.  Knowing he’s a rather private man, it showed to me this wasn’t his perfect comfort zone.  But he did engage the audience well.  It was great to see everyone up on the panel.

Pictures will be coming soon!

As promised, check out some pictures I took at the panel:

Justin Hartley, Erica Durance, Kelly Souders and Tom Welling at the Comic Con 2009 Smallville panel
Justin Hartley, Erica Durance, Kelly Souders and Tom Welling at Comic Con 2009 Smallville panel

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Allison Mack, Cassidy Freeman and Callum Blue on Comic-Con Smallville panel
Allison Mack, Cassidy Freeman and Callum Blue on Comic-Con 2009 Smallville panel

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Tom Welling at Smallville Comic-Con panel
Tom Welling answering a question, very slowly,
staring at the questioner.
It was a good day for one fan.

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Tom Welling and Batman at Comic-Con
Clark signing an autograph for Batman at
the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con
Smallville panel.

Update (9/4/09):  Check out Clark’s Superman look suit for season9 of Smallville.

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  • Olu
    Nice ! Can't wait !

    I know for definite there will be nasty comments that may include 'hope the show ends' and other stuff alike.

    I like the show ! There is always that element of surprise when watching the show.
  • BlackArrowX
    I loved the panel. It was a great time. I hope Smallville keeps on going. It is a great show. I loved all the seasons. Only complaint was Doomsday, very very short fight :( But heres hopin for season 9. The trailer did look awesome.

    It was nice meeting you Bruce. I was the one sitting next to you, instead of some model sitting next to us.. I promise next time :)
  • wackywoman
    Glad to hear it went well. I attended in 2007 and waited in line for a very long time with a naive idea that Tom might show up. Boo hoo!! Can wait to see pics here and videos on youtube.
  • Sean
    i will be waiting for your pics!!!

    Thanks
  • Julie Z
    "I didn’t catch the question, but the girl asking Tom Welling said to take a long time answering so that Tom can keep staring at her."

    HAHAHA I can't believe you included this part in your recap--that girl would be me...and as embarrassing as it is that I actually said that, Tom's brilliant gaze made my year *sigh*

    GREAT panel!
  • Forrester
    So they didn't confirm the TV movie rumors? Too bad. I really liked the idea of a big TV movie (with the suit obviously) to close out the series.
  • BlackArrowX
    “I didn’t catch the question, but the girl asking Tom Welling said to take a long time answering so that Tom can keep staring at her.”

    I think this was my favorite part of the panel.. it was like.. too funny.. cause a girl has some puppy love crush on Tom, and he plays along.. lol
  • tasouli
    I think that the writers and the smallville representatives at comic-con did not answer many questiosn because they themselves are uncertain. Of course the first few episodes have been filmed but that does not mean that iuf the fans dont like the way the show is going after the first few ep's that they cant change the direction of the show.
    I did NOT enjoy the past 2 season (in particular last season) but I DO like this approach. I like the fact that they have Clark in a black suit and I think the reason that he is in a black suit is because he self proclaimed Clark Kent as being dead in the season finale. I think when Clark Kent resurfaces so to speak he will add color to the suit.

    I am liking what I am hearing so far. But what happened to Lana? Are they just going to not bring her back and leave there chemistry unresolved? They need to tie up that loose end. Perhaps they could bring her back with a new man in her life or kill her off so taht she is no longer an issue to the show. I personally like teh character of Lana much more than Lois but I know the fans disagree with me on that one.
    -Lex MUST BE BROUGHT back. Superman without Lex is not Superman.
    -Clark has got to start flying permanently; doesnt mean he has to do it all teh time or even in every episode but he has to have the option of flying as his own option.
    -Love the fact that Zod will be in the whole season.
    -More Green arrow, if done correctly, will be good. If they make him a dark depressed alcoholic that Clark needs to work with at saving that might be pretty cool.
    -The fact that Tom Welling appeared at comic con shows us that he and teh show's exec's are desperate. they know that the show has sucked and they want to make changes to please the fans.
    -Please LESS Chloe this season.
  • wackywoman
    Yikes tasouli: 1. Lex is not Superman's only enemy and we all know he is not dead. 2. Bring Lana back? I suspect I'm speaking for lots of folks out there who are completely comfortable with the way Clana ended. Very funny indeed... she turned out to be poisonous to him. 3. The writers can make Clark fly when they're ready. I like the idea of moving towards that. When I comes to CK's abilities, the writers really do know what they are doing.

    Congrats to all the panelists and especially to Tom for his first Con experience. The "talk really slow" question and answer was absolutely hysterical.
  • Scottgia
    Well said wackywoman...
  • OllieJ
    @tasouli: I don't see it as a move of desperation to have Tom Welling appear at SDCC. This is a big year for them with many exciting developments, ie Clark wearing the 'S'.

    The show has not sucked. It's one of their highest-rated, if not the highest-rated, shows on the network. Granted, there are gripes about certain story-arcs ie, Lana's "send off", that I've have issues with but overall the show has been fantastic.

    Each Superverse needs to be viewed in a closed system, so to speak, where events from other Superman incarnations aren't considered gospel. The Smallville Clark needs to come into his own version of Superman. Btw, no other Superman incarnation has ever told the story of Clark's journey. There's been a Superboy TV show, but none that have actually showed such a long, tumultous journey toward the Man of Steel. So enjoy it for what it is.
  • Lily
    The season 9 preview is all it took to recieve my forgiveness for the horrible latter half of season 8.... it was incredible and epic!!!
  • tasouli
    I n my opnion that past two seasons HAVE bene terrible; for proof of that merely check the rating and you can see how season after seaosn the show has lost more viewers.

    The fact that it is one of the highest rated shows on teh network DOES NOT say much about the network. I mean come one look at the shows they have: One Tree Hill, 90210, Gossip Girl and now they have added a rip off of twilight in vampire diearies and their version of one tree hill 2 in melrose place...the newtork stinks...aside from SUPERNATURAL of course

    Taking that into consideration I do NOT think Smallville is unsalvageable. It can still go out on a high note because THEY ARE IN FACT depserate. They want to keep the show going to season 10 and now with the move to Fridays the show will lose more ratings so they need to make sure that they keep their fans happy.
    And I am sorry last year was HORRIBLE.
    1-they ruined the whole lana and clark thing
    2-for all the buildup Doomsday was a bust
    3-Jimmy Olsen wasnt really Jimmy Olsen
    4-Chloe's realtionships dominated many episodes
    5-Red/Blue blur?
    6-Clark went back in time...again? hmm so if he fails at something why doesnt he just call upon thos epl from the future to get him another ring so he can go back in time and change it again...LAME!
    7-Michael Rosenbaum (Lex) and Kristen Kreuk (Lana) which were the shows best actors were pretty much nonexistent in the season....O yeah and Clarks mom and the dog, comet, are gone too
    8-Lana has super powers
    9-The episode "Stoleto" -there is NOOOO WAY you could have liekd this episode
    10-The concept of Davis Bloom was STOLEN from the TV show Dexter showing us the unoriginality of the show
    11-Tom Welling had taht stupid look after he had to lie about his secret identity at least 3 times per episode
    12-Tori Spelling was brough back again NUFFFFF SAID
  • John "Kahless" Taylor
    The black suit, in the comic, is what he wore when he emerged from the robot that healed his body. I believe this suit is the Kryptonian suit of his family. In the show "Lois and Clark", he wore this suit when he had to fullfill his duties as the son of Jor-El. So this could definately be a prelude to the iconic costume.
  • wackywoman
    Again, tasouli, why are you so invested in rabidly ranting about a show you obviously can't stand? Wouldn't your time be best served by joining in a discussion about something you like and care about?

    BTW. I am an avid Dexter fan and Bloom's character is not anything like Neil Perry (oh so creepy!). But, on a side note, Sam Witwer is amazing in both characters ;-)
  • wackywoman
    Oh, sorry, back again. About the move to Fridays? Really doesn't matter for most fans who I'm hoping are equipped with a recording device. I hardly ever watch shows on the nights they are aired. An Smallville? WAY TOO MANY COMMERCIALS!!!
  • Hey gang... glad ya'all liked the recap and JULIE Z, get out!!! What did you ask? That's cool that you were there. His reply was the best!!

    I thought the black suit was cool, and the energy in the room was fantastic!
  • To All who have previously commented:

    I have just added my photos from the SMALLVILLE panel from the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con.
  • BlackArrowX
    Oh, sorry, back again. About the move to Fridays? Really doesn’t matter for most fans who I’m hoping are equipped with a recording device. I hardly ever watch shows on the nights they are aired. An Smallville? WAY TOO MANY COMMERCIALS!!!


    Yea i know the feeling of too many commercials. I wish it Smallvilel was still on WB.. i just dont like CW. upn was a horrible station, and then they had to merge :(
  • Longshanks
    I'm glad to hear that Lois will be in more episodes this season.I felt like she got gypped and wasn't around enough last season.

    I personally am hoping for 2 things this season;
    1)I hope Lana doesn't show up in any way
    2)I really hope they end the show when this season's done.

    They've dragged it out long enough and unless this season is totally different from the others(especially with the scripting and dialogue),I wouldn't be one bit sad to see it go,as long as it's done properly.

    I've been with this show since day one,and I'm not even that big of a Superman fan.While it's had it's ups and downs,I think the last few seasons are really testing a fan's will to stay committed to watching.

    Here's to hoping for a good 9th season.
  • The Eradicator version of Superman in the Return of Superman wore a black suit and had a silver S shield on his chest. I'm betting this is who came back from the explosion.

    Vic
  • OllieJ
    @tasouli:

    You begin your statement with "in my opinion" but then go on to claim your opinion as "fact"; which I'm just not willing to do.

    I don't think it's desperation to have the show's lead character participate in the panel. TW has been known to be a private person who does not seek the limelight. However, what I do think is that part of his becoming a co-executive producer for season 9 requires him to be a more public persona in regard to Smallville. Again, that's just my opinion.

    Actually, Smallville being the stations highest-rated show says quite a bit. It's no secret that the CW's Executive, Dawn Ostroff, has made it her mission to appeal to women 18-to-34, with shows that often feature trashy, classless, and almost amoral characters succumbing to every illicit desire they have. Yet, Smallville, despite its sometimes sexed-up nature, remains a show about strong characters with stronger moral fibers fighting to do the right thing even when doing the opposite would do a lot supposed good.

    As long as they have an amazing send off and story to tell, I hope they keep the show going till Season 10. There was a time where shows stayed on for longer than that.

    As per your list,
    1. Agreed. Lana's departure as a choice was more characteristic of who she really was, in spite of the dark turn she took with Lex.
    2.While it would've been nice to see more of a fight between Clark & Doomsday, I'm not upset because I know it's really not time for that now.
    3.That was due to DC's urging, NOT the writers/producers of Smallville.
    4.True, but eh.
    5.I think Red/Blue Blur is a fantastic way to ease Clark into the idea of an alter-ego.
    6.Dude, if you're pissed about a 2nd time travel incident, don't ever read the comics or anything to do with the Infinite Crisis.
    7.Michael Rosenbau and Kristin Kreuk's contracts ended at the end of Season 7.
    8. Lana has an exoskeleton suit grafted to her body that endows her with powers. But once again, I agree. It was completely unnecessary and maligned her true character.
    9. Stiletto was a filler episode with some advancement at least, which is more than I could say for "Thirst" or a number of other Halloween episodes.
    10. Ridiculous on all points. The entire show is not unoriginal due to a similarity in characters. It's WHY they do what they do that makes them different and unique.
    11. So the whole season is horrible because Tom makes a look that you don't like?
    12. Tori Spelling was brought back for a specific reason and she was barely in the ep.

    Like I said, I agree with very few of the points you made but overall I think you've dwelled on ridiculous points that have soured your overal view of the show. I think if you looked at them as devices to get from point A to point B, you just might enjoy it a bit more. If not, feel free to stop watching.
  • tasouli
    @ Olliej

    I actually dont read any comics and never had but this is a TV show, not a comic and as was teh case in heroes time travel rarely works.
    The show last two seasons was horrible, its not actually an opinion its a fact-proven by the majority of reviews, the decline in ratings, and the move to Fridays.

    I would be willing to make a bet on this following statement. I guarantee you that if in some way there was a poll asking "should Smallville end in this season" over 75% of the votes would say yes. Everyone I know has stop watching it, and I probably wont watch it live anymore because lets face it Fridays is a party night not a TV night. Reason I still watch the show is because I've watched it from the beginning and want to see it out and i try and stay optimistic about every season.
    But if any1 thinks taht last season was good then we just dont have the same tastes and I woudl go as far as to say that the general public (the ones that dont read or have read the comics; myself included) did not like last season.

    And yes, Tom Welling and the creators are deperate because where the show may have high ratings it also has a higher budget than the other CW shows ( i mean what's teh budget for one tree hill 30 bux for a spalding basketaball)and the CW moved to fridays because they are no longer interested in supporting the show. The CW has a different direction in mind for its TV shows they want more shows that are like Dawson's Creek showing young romances flourish; which is somethig I am not sticking around for.
    ANYWAY I am optimistic about this season and I think taht they will have a strong finish. So far what I have heard about comic con sounds good and next season is looking up
  • OllieJ
    @tasouli:

    It's a show based on a comic-book character with a very long and varied history.

    I really don't understand your gripes about time-travel. Is it a convenient device? Yes, absolutely. But what's more important is what the character learns from the adventure and what effect their decisions, proactive or passive, have upon those around them.

    Just because "everyone you know" doesn't mean that everyone has stopped watching it. If you've looked at the ratings posted on Kryptonsite.com, you would see that Smallville is consistently hovering around 5th place with total viewership across all networks.

    Until you can prove something OBJECTIVELY, ie with verified statements, numbers and figures, it is considered an OPINION. Perhaps a scientific poll should be conducted before asserting opinion as fact. But your insistence on doing so just tells me that I won't be able to convince you of that truth, so any argument is rendered moot.

    Also, you cannot claim that the shows producers are desperate if they're moving it to a Friday Night time slot. That's not a move of desperation. It's move of apathy or extreme confidence.

    Regardless, as everyone else has said, if you no longer like the show, feel free to stop watching. But if you're as loyal a fan as you say, perhaps you should a) be somewhat familiar with the original source material and b) be slow to completely bash it.
  • Johnny
    To Vic Holtreman: Actually, Eradicator wore the blue and black suit with the yellow visor. Superman returned wearing a black suit with a silver emblem on the chest.

    On to my opinions...

    I may not agree 100% with the direction the show takes at times, but I also stopped viewing it as comic mythos come-to-life and look at it as its own separate entity. Like a re-telling of the story (ie: John Carpenter's Halloween and then Rob Zombie's Halloween). Same basic story, new additions. If you stop baing everything on the comics, the show becomes very enjoyable. I, for one of many, will return to view it at it's new Friday night time slot when season 9 premieres on Sept. 25th. In fact, I'm rewatching seasons 1-8 before it returns just to refresh my mind of everything that has happened since day 1.
  • Johnny
    stop basing^ sorry, left out that s.
  • To OLLIE and TASOULI:

    Keep it civil. You've both made your points and as far as I can tell, there is no reason to continue hashing it out back and forth in this comment thread.

    Screen Rant is a place where readers can express their opinions freely. We won't tolerate folks attacking others' opinions.

    Thanks,
    -Bruce
  • @Johnny

    I was going from memory - I knew he wore the visor but I thought it was with a black suit and silver emblem. I could be misremembering.

    Vic
  • OllieJ
    @Bruce: No one has attacked anyone's opinion. Our harshest disagreement has been centered on opinion asserted as fact, but as I said, that's been rendered moot.

    We both have expressed our opinions, agreed on some points, disagreed on others, all without ever attacking each other.
  • Nathan402
    I've watched the show since it started and I must say being a comic fan and a life long superman fan I have found that the seasons are getting better not worse. In regards to the black suit, Superman did wear the black suit with a silver S when he came back from Death after Doomsday in the comics. It was an epic moment and if they could relate that to the show I would be most interested in seeing it.
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