Fans waiting for the animated Smallville sequel series just got a frustrating and disappointing update. Speaking with Screen Rant, Smallville star Tom Welling revealed that the project that he and former co-star Michael Rosenbaum have been developing, hasn’t really moved forward because Warner Brothers hasn’t responded to their pitch — and they need the studio’s permission to proceed with the project. Welling also had theories about why they haven’t gotten a response from the studio and, for Welling, he thinks it’s a matter of priority.
“We want it to work,” Welling said when asked about the animated series. “The honest answer is we have not been able to get Warner Brothers to give us the thumbs up. We need their permission.”
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“We haven’t even gotten a response,” he said when asked for more details. “It’s the weirdest thing because it is more of a fan-driven idea. It’s not going to be a blockbuster. It’s not going to be a financial windfall for any of us. We all like each other, we all like working together, and if we could do it, it’d be fun. But Warner Bros. — and I’m not hating on them — they just haven’t gotten back to us. It’s not a priority for them, It’s like a not-returning-phone-calls-thing.”
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The animated Smallville sequel is something that has been discussed for a few years and earlier this year, Rosenbaum told ComicBook that they had some “loose animation” that they had worked on and were very happy with how it turned out. At that time, Rosenbaum said that “when it’s the right time, we’ll pitch it” and from the sound of Welling’s more recent comments, it sounds like they may have arrived at what they feel is the right time to make the pitch — but simply aren’t getting the opportunity to do so.
And there are some logical reasons for that. There have been major changes in regard to DC IPs at Warner Brothers in recent years, perhaps the largest being the launch of DC Studios with co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran. Their DCU is about to launch with the arrival of Creature Commandos December 5th on Max in terms of television series and Superman on July 11, 2025, in terms of film. With those projects on the horizon — and the DCU largely serving as a broad reset of what Warner Bros. has previously done with DC — revisiting a series that while beloved and that was quite popular in its time ended more than a decade ago is likely not very high on the priority list. Additionally, Welling himself even noted that the animated Smallville sequel is more of a fan-driven idea and not one that would make the studio a large amount of money and ultimately, profitability is a major driver when it comes to entertainment decisions, especially when it comes to animation.
As for what the Smallville animated series would be about, it would be a sequel to the original series with Welling explaining back in 2022 that it would pick up right after the Smallville finale but would tell their own story — and they hope to have the original cast involved.
“We’re working on an animated series that picks up right after our Smallville [finale] and… telling our own story,” Welling said at the time. “Our vision is that we get Erica. It might be tough to get Allison. But even Sam Jones III [who played Pete Ross] and Lionel Luthor is going to be a big part of that. John Glover wants to do it; we’ve already been into this. We’ve already gotten animation, we just don’t have the stories yet because Al and Miles are busy doing Tim Burton-like movies. As soon as they are done with that, we’re going to do this. I want to be Clark’s voice; I want Erica to be Lois’s voice. That’s going to be the fun of it. I think there’s a story that Al and Miles are going to tell that’s individual and new and call it a multiverse thing. But let’s see where it goes, and it’ll be fun, so yeah.”
