Smallville ran for 10 seasons and 217 episodes, an incredible stint that's unlikely to be duplicated in an age of 8-episode streaming series that deliver new seasons every two or three years.
However, during that time, Smallville never successfully launched any spin-offs. Multiple DC Comics superheroes factored into the series, including Green Arrow, Aquaman, and Supergirl, but when the main series ended, those versions of the characters were forgotten and the Arrowverse was launched in 2013 with The CW's Arrow.
An Aquaman pilot starring Justin Hartley was shot but didn't move forward; eventually, he'd join Smallville as Oliver Queen, with Alan Ritchson taking over the role of Arthur Curry.
In an interview with ScreenRant, Smallville showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar confirmed that they'd considered a Wonder Woman TV series about a young Diana Prince. Unfortunately, the time was never right to make it a reality.
"Well, I think had the Aquaman one gone forward, definitely there would've been some crossover at some point," Gough said. "Characters could have crossed in and out of the shows. "Had we had the opportunity, we would've built out that show, and then we would've definitely looked at a Diana Prince show because that's something else that we were very interested [in.]"
Millar added, "Yeah, that was the other show, the young Wonder Woman show. We thought that was a really interesting character, really interesting dynamics. It felt like a natural fit for crossovers with Clark and Lois. But it was, just unfortunately, the regime at the time, once the WB became CW, it was just a different [time.]"
Explaining that the demands of making Smallville took up the majority of the creative energy, Millar went on to say that he thinks the show benefited from their undivided attention, even if it meant spin-offs had to take a back seat.
Moving back to Aquaman, Millar was quick to defend a pilot that's often been ridiculed by fans online since it first surfaced several years ago.
"It had problems, but it was the raw pilot," he stated. "So it's seen a pilot before you get a chance to go in and fix it. Yeah, that was the pilot we didn't get a chance [to fix.] If you'd seen the original Smallville pilot, there are things in that that we changed when you get into production."
Millar continued, "It was just really bad timing in terms of the UPN and WB merger, and the UPN folks came in and basically cleaned house. Smallville was not the kind of show they wanted, and Aquaman was definitely the first victim of that feud between the two superpowers of the networks. So it was just really unfortunate timing. Looking back, we should have definitely done that earlier, done a spinoff."
It's fascinating to think that Smallville could have paved the way for a Wonder Woman TV series long before Gal Gadot brought the Amazonian warrior to the big screen. A young Diana Prince crossing paths with Clark Kent and Lois Lane would have opened the door to some exciting storytelling avenues, while potentially giving the show a hugely successful sister series.
Separate attempts were made to bring Wonder Woman to television in 2011, but the Adrianne Palicki-led effort, like Aquaman, it got no further than the pilot.