Tom Welling Talks Fan Expo San Francisco, Smallville's Legacy, and What Sold Him on Crisis Crossover Return

Fan Expo San Francisco is bringing together a bevy of fan favorites from TV, Movies, Comics, Anime, and more, and those who adore Smallville are especially in luck. Smallville stars Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, and Kristen Kreuk are all in attendance today and tomorrow, and they even held a Smallville Nights event to kick things off on Friday night. ComicBook.com had a chance to speak to Welling all about the event, the legacy of Smallville and how it has continued to gain new fans across generations, and what sold him on returning for the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover.

Friday night Welling and Rosenbaum entertained fans with Smallville Nights, an event where they reenact scenes from Smallville and try not to break while doing so. If you haven't caught one in person, you absolutely should the next time one comes around.

"It's Smallville Nights, it's mostly me and Michael, we get a limited amount of fans. What we do is we pull up scenes from Smallville and sort of reenact them but, it's a lot of fan participation," Welling said. "We bring people up and they get to work with us and we give them directions. And, every time we do it, I end up crying laughing at one point or another, it's a really great time. It's so much fun, which is why we do it, and then, sometimes, we do have special guests, other cast members sort of make appearances and whatnot. I'm really looking forward to it. We haven't done one in a while, and I'm looking forward to get it going again. It's one of those things that, when it's over, I always feel this adrenaline rush because it's just pure entertainment interactions. It's great."

Smallville ran for 10 years and was one of the pillars of The CW during that time, and its legacy and fanfare have continued to grow in the years since. Ironically Welling is actually enjoying the success of the show more these days than he did while the show was on the air, taking a cue from Rosenbaum, who told Welling he was always working and missing out on some of the fun of it all.

"We were just doing a podcast the other day. Michael was talking about...when the show became a success, all the things he was able to cash in on because of his success, telling me how he'd go to Disneyland and he'd get 15 passes for his friends and VIP treatments," Welling said. "He'd get flown to London and he'd get flown to Paris and I'm sitting there watching him do the podcast and I'm like, 'I never got offered any of that s***.' And he goes, 'Cause you were working all the time. You never had a chance. You never had a chance to enjoy the success at all.' And, it's true, I never did. When we would finish the season, I would disappear. I just needed time to myself. I never got to enjoy the success. And he said to me, 'But you are now.' And I said, 'You're right. I'm actually enjoying Smallville more now than I did when we were filming it." And it's just, it's true."

Smallville had a way of appearing to fans of all ages, and that's only grown as fans of the show become parents and pass it on to their kids. In my case, I was actually a fan of the show and got my mom hooked on it and thus everyone knew the Aguilar family was busy on Thursday nights. That multi-generational aspect is something Welling has noticed as well.

"I tell you the craziest thing is, at the conventions, everybody's happy. I always think it's as if it's a sporting event where they're, everybody wins, people dress up. It's their favorite team and their favorite players and everybody's happy. And, I have seen biological representation of the success of the show when people are like, 'I used to watch this show with my parents and now, meet my child, whose name is Clark," Welling said.

"You know what I mean? Yeah, I definitely see it. It's totally cool. There are people who come, you talk about how they watch it with their dad, maybe, who's no longer around, but this is something they shared with them because there's not a lot of shows that parents really watch with their kids where they can overlap the interests. So, I think, it's a very special series for sure," Welling said.

That's also why fans were so excited to learn that Smallville's universe was returning for CW's epic Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, with Welling and Erica Durance reprising their roles. For me personally, the twist of it all was shocking initially and then after 30 seconds of thought made all the sense in the world, and that's part of what compelled Welling to jump back in.

"No, I agree. There have been a couple of times on other shows that have happened since Smallville, where people reached out and maybe wanted to see a version of Clark on different, and it just never seemed like it was true to my Clark, tonally or situationally," Welling said. "And then, when this one came through, basically, the call was this, 'I know you're going to say no, but you should read it.' And it came from a very good source, someone who knew me. And I read it and I was like, 'Ah, damn it, this is good.' I was kind of happily unhappy-happy, if that makes any sense. Because it got to show you a very Smallville version of this wealthy person. This is one version of what could have happened," Welling said.

"There are a million different versions and, by the way, people ask me, they're like, 'Well, how did Clark give up his powers?' And I'm like, 'I have no idea," Welling said. "I asked a writer, and they said they didn't know either."

As for his favorite part of that return, you knew it had to be about Lex. "My favorite part in that whole episode is when I look at Jon Cryer, Lex Luthor, and I say, 'You're not Lex.' That was probably the easiest line I've ever had to say on camera because he is not, you know what I mean? To me, he's not Michael Rosenbaum," Welling said. "And Jon's a great guy and we had a great time on set, don't get me wrong but, I thought they just did it, just, really well. And, I think, like you said, it was a very Smallville way of telling that version of the story," Welling said.

You can catch Welling at FanExpo San Francisco today and Sunday, and you can find even more stories from Smallville on Welling and Rosenbaum's Talk Ville podcast right here.

Let us know what your favorite Smallville moment is and you can talk all things Smallville with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!