Michael Rosenbaum was a huge part of Smallville during the show's first seven seasons but, when his contract ended, he decided to move on to other projects. The DC TV series attempted to continue Lex Luthor's story - with mixed to poor results - and the actor later returned for a small role in the series finale.
That was it for him and Smallville until The CW's Crisis on Infinite Earths event rolled around. Tom Welling reprised his role as Clark Kent alongside Erica Durance's Lois Lane, though there was no sign of Rosenbaum's Lex.
Talking to Screen Rant, the actor opened up on his decision to turn down a cameo role in the epic crossover.
"There's only room for one Lex. If they're doing this multiverse story, I don't want to be with other Lexes," Rosenbaum says, likely referring to plans for his Lex to meet Jon Cryer's version. "If they want to show me in a different realm, world or universe, great, and then have the other me in another universe, that's fine."
"I didn't really love the idea of having my Lex and other Lexes, it just wasn't something that interested me. I believe that the reason I didn't do it was because they pretty much said, 'Hey, we're shooting this next whatever. We don't have a script. This is what we're getting you. Are you in or out?' I'm like, 'I'm out.' [There was] no money, no script, not telling me what's going on."
Elsewhere in the interview, Rosenbaum confirmed he was asked to play Lex in "another show," and while he declined to say what that was, it seems he seriously considered playing another version of the iconic comic book villain.
"They were considering me for another show, to play Lex Luthor," he reveals. "I'm not going to say what it was for, but they wanted me and I think that ultimately, it didn't work out. But I was flattered. There was something else that I turned down, and it didn't get picked up, either. But I met with everybody, just to be respectful."
"I was honored as it's always nice to get an offer, but it was the kind of role where you needed make up for, and it was probably a couple of hours of make-up every morning. I can't really say what it was, but I just said, 'No thanks. I'm not doing this for a show.' For a movie, you [would] consider something! That's the thing, if you're playing Lex Luthor for two or three months for a movie, big deal, shave your head! It's a little different shaving your head for seven years."
We can't help but wonder what these mystery projects were, though Superman & Lois seems like a strong possibility for the first one. Post-Crisis, that series takes place in its own reality and replaced Supergirl's Jon Cryer with Michael Cudlitz as Lex. Rosenbaum showing up as Lex would have been one heck of a surprise for fans!
Earlier this week, the actor talked about his hopes to return as Lex either in a Smallville animated series or movie. You can hear more about that by clicking here.