Tom Welling Reveals Smallville Alternate Ending We Could Have Gotten

Tom Welling, star of the long-running television series Smallville, recently revealed to ScreenRant that the show’s series finale planned for a complete reveal of Clark Kent’s transformation into Superman. It would have been much more cathartic than what fans got, which was more of a tease for fans.

According to Welling, the original script called for Clark to put on the full Superman suit. Welling said, “They had written where Clark sees the suit, then cut to him, pulling it on and putting the boots on.” Unfortunately, Welling did not want to wear the suit, and the shot they had planned for it was not something that would have done justice to Clark.

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Welling cited the series finale of 24 as inspiration for the final scene fans got to see. In that episode, Kiefer Sutherland’s character, Jack Bauer, bid farewell to his colleague Chloe, acknowledging that they wouldn’t be able to follow him on his next mission, but leaving viewers to imagine his continued adventures.

Welling wanted to create a similar sense of mystery and leave the audience with the understanding that Superman’s journey was ongoing, even though the series was ending. To achieve this, the final shot of Smallville showed Superman only from afar, with Clark tearing open his shirt to reveal the iconic “S” symbol.

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It makes a lot of sense looking back; while fans would have loved to see their patience rewarded with a full Superman suit, it would feel like the journey was done. The ending fans were shown implies that Superman will go on, even past the show, on his own adventures. As Welling said, “I referenced that the idea that this character is gonna go out there, he’s gonna be out there… And that’s how that all came about.”

He also confirmed that he only wore a crop top with no sleeves underneath the shirt. Once it was clear what angle they were shooting, the costume department knew it’d be much cheaper to make a crop top with an S than to make a full suit.