'Supergirl' Fan Art Imagines Smallville's Tom Welling As Lex Luthor

Some DC fans have expressed their interest in having Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum return to play Lex Luthor in Supergirl, but what is Superman actor Tom Welling took on the role?

That's the premise of this new fan art from artist BFHARTSANDSTUFF, who posted this creation on Reddit. The image shows Welling's likeness on a Luthor-esque bald head and a business suit as he holds a shard of Kryptonite in his hand. It's certainly an interesting version of the character, as it's hard to see Clark's face on someone who looks so much like Luthor. You can check out the art for yourself in the image below.

All the Luthor love comes from the recent announcement of Lex joining CW's Supergirl sometime after the upcoming Elseworlds crossover. Fans have taken to social media to nominate Rosenbaum for the role, which he played on Smallville, but now they just might have to consider Welling too.

Rosenbaum played the role of Lex Luthor on the hit CW show from 2001 to 2008, when he left the show, though he did return for the big series finale in 2011. During his time on the show, he delivered a beloved rendition of the character, who as opposed to the comics befriended Clark Kent in Smallville after Clark saved his life. The two would go on to hold a tenuous friendship as time went on, and eventually, they would become full-on enemies.

The part of Lex Luthor has been played several times on TV and movies. Luthor was played by Gene Hackman in the original Christopher Reeve Superman films, and then would be played by John Shea in ABC's Lois & Clark TV series. Rosenbaum would then play Lex in Smallville, while the animated version of Lex Luthor in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited would be voiced by Clancy Brown, as well as several other actors in animated movies like Rainn Wilson, James Marsters, Steve Blum, Jason Isaacs, Chris Noth, John DiMaggio, Anthony LaPaglia, Powers Boothe, Fred Tatasciore, and William Hootkins. Lex would be played again on the big screen by Kevin Spacey in Superman Returns, and then by Jesse Eisenberg in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League.

As for Welling, he recently returned to the genre in Fox's Lucifer, and will hopefully return next season now that the show has moved from Fox to Netflix.