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(The following article contains minor spoilers for the
new WB series Smallville)
Among massive news of films such as X-Men, Blade,
Spider-Man, or a new Batman sequel, there has been a
flood of comic related news from Hollywood. Batman
alone has been proposed for a Year One film, a Batman
Beyond film, a young Bruce Wayne TV series and has
also been featured in the cartoon format. It would
only stand to reason that amongst this revitalized
trend of comics in popular culture that it would be
time for the biggest gun of all, Superman, to be
revitalized.
Between films, movie serials, cartoons and television
series the character of Superman has almost been
omni-present in the world of popular culture. Ever
since the television drama Lois and Clark ended,
however, Superman has been somewhat sparse in the
mainstream. Despite a well-received cartoon series,
most of the energy was apparently being channeled into
a film that would be written by Kevin Smith, directed
by Tim Burton, star Nicholas Cage, and many other
developments over a several year period. Much like
the later Batman films, it seemed that this project
was doomed to be a glossy, superficial blockbuster
film with little care given to quality. This project
has stalled out for the time being, and yet with a
relative lack of fanfare a new series has debuted on
television this season. Sure the lead character is
Clark Kent, an alien survivor who crash landed on
Earth, but this series is not about Superman at all.
The WB Network's new series Smallville has taken a
somewhat revisionist approach to the Superman mythos
by tweaking aspects of young Clark's days in high
school. Gone are major staples of the mythos like the
ability to fly and the traditional costume. Until
recently, Clark wasn't even aware of his abilities or
his alien heritage. This is a Clark Kent who is still
learning the importance of responsibility and
struggles to come to terms with the fact that he is no
longer as normal as he might have believed.
One of the biggest questions I had in regards to
Smallville was whether or not the production team
would be able to come up with enough dramatic
circumstances to provide a weekly dose of life in this
small town. How many aliens or super-criminals could
invade a small town without it getting ridiculous?
This potential problem is well remedied by Clark's
arrival to Earth. When his spacecraft crashed it was
accompanied by a shower of meteors from his home
planet. Now much of this radioactive ore has spread
throughout the area and seems to have strange effects
on the populace. Kryptonite still serves as a foil to
Clark's super abilities by weakening him, but it also
serves as a dramatic device to introduce new threats
on a regular basis.
Smallville has also been set up with a strong
character base to rely on. Although Ma and Pa Kent
(played by Annette O'Toole and John Schneider) are
much younger than they have been portrayed in the
past, they are still the same well-meaning and wise
parents to Clark they have always been. If Clark is
going to adjust to his abilities the Kents will no
doubt be central in providing a moral compass for him
to follow.
The central character of Clark is obviously the
trickiest to deal with, yet Tom Welling's performance
came across very well and seems more than valid enough
to be acknowledged as a young Superman. Welling
portrays a range of emotions from wonder to angst in
regards to his abilities and the responsibility they
represent. At this point Clark doesn't know how he
could utilize these abilities, just that they make it
nearly impossible for him to live any sort of normal
life. Clark could easily become a football star and a
hero to his classmates, yet he instead finds himself
fading into the background and wondering what could
be.
Nearly as important a facet of Smallville is Clark's
would-be love interest Lana Lang. Since the genesis
of the Smallville comic stories Lana has always been
Clark's high school sweetheart that he left behind to
become a reporter in Metropolis. Now Lana is one of
the most popular girls in school, a member of the
cheerleading squad and girlfriend of a jockish
football star. She is friends with Clark but seems
somewhat oblivious to his strong crush on her. What
makes Lana, played by Kristin Kreuk, so fascinating
here is her character's free spirited nature. She
quits the cheerleading team in protest of a grading
scandal and proclaims her desire to experience new and
different things. Despite losing her parents in the
meteor shower that brought Clark to earth, Lana is
optimistic and seems to cherish life. If anyone would
be accepting of Clark's alien heritage, it would be
Lana.
Every Superman series needs a villain, but this time
Lex Luthor is not the man for the job. A young Lex
was accompanying his father on a business trip when
the meteor shower hit Smallville, during which an
impacting meteor caused Lex to lose his hair. The
portrayal of Lex in this show, as portrayed by Michael
Rosenbaum, is one of a character that could easily
become a villain yet could just as easily be a hero.
Akin to Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Spike, Lex is
intent on doing the right thing, yet the circumstances
of his life make it seem that this is impossible.
Being brought up by a cold-hearted businessman has
shaped the way Lex deals with others, yet Lex wants to
use his father's company for good. The friendship
between Clark and Lex is one of the most interesting
aspects of this series, and it will be interesting to
see how Lex reacts should he find out that the same
meteor storm that disfigured him brought Clark to
Earth.
Clark's best friends in this series are portrayed by
Sam Jones III and Allison Mack, portraying Pete Ross
and Chloe Sullivan respectively. These characters are
aware of the weird things going on in Smallville and
have been keeping track of them. Although they have
yet to discover the meteors as the source of the
anomalies or Clark's alien heritage it is possible
that this could happen down the line. Much like the
duel nature kryptonite serves here, Pete and Chloe
could just as easily be a threat to Clark's secret as
they could serve to help him in figuring out the weird
situations.
What makes this series more fascinating than anything
is the sheer amount of possibilites the production
team has set up. Characters like Lana and Lex have
had their lives greatly shaped by the meteor storm and
could easily demonize Clark for it. Lex has almost
always been an evil character in the past, yet there
is nothing here that insists this must be the case.
It seems inevitable that some of the characters will
find out about Clark's powers, yet the possibilities
could lead in numerous paths that would provide a
wealth of dramatic opportunity depending on who finds
out. And perhaps the most interesting question of all
is up in the air as well: will Clark go on to be
Superman in the future?
Whether you are a fan of Superman or not I would
highly recommend giving Smallville a try. The
creative team has put a great deal of effort into
establishing a solid premise backed with great
characters. Despite any changes to the Superman
mythos present here there is an appreciation of the
core concept that comes through strongly. Compared
with most of the news surrounding the proposed
Superman film from the last few years Smallville seems
like a much more rewarding project for fans. There is
no question that I'll be following this series
intently over what will hopefully be the next several
years. My only question is how soon will kryptonite
bestow powers on a dog.
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