Tom Welling is arguably the Superman of a generation. While the actor mainly portrayed Clark Kent, and only got to be the full-fledged Man of Steel for small portions of the show, he is, for many, the quintessential depiction of the hero. Welling has been very open about how grateful he is to have played the Big Blue Boy Scout. However, as it turns out, he would also like to step into the tights and boots of another beloved DC character.
Welling, alongside a large portion of the Smallville cast, recently attended a Smallville panel at Comic Con Liverpool. A fan asked the cast what other DC characters they would like to portray in James Gunn's DCU if given the opportunity. Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor on the show, immediately started pointing at Welling, seemingly mouthing "Batman." The Clark Kent actor then simply answered: "I mean, Batman," which drew cheers from the crowd.
Then, Aaron Ashmore, who played Jimmy Olsen on Smallville, jokingly asked Welling if he could be his Robin. The actor responded: "I'd fly with you anytime."
This isn't the first time Welling has expressed his desire to take on the role of the Dark Knight. During a 2019 appearance on the Inside of You podcast, he was asked what other DC character aside from Superman he'd like to play in the now-defunct Arrowverse. The actor said his pick would be Batman (via Comicbook.com):
"Yeah, I do like Batman, and I think there is some room to grow there. And, yeah, it would be different."
Interestingly, the actor was a big advocate for featuring Bruce Wayne on Smallville during its run. The show was, unfortunately, not allowed to use the hero, but Welling was so eager to have his Clark Kent and the Dark Knight meet, that he even came up with a fun way to make it happen. Speaking at Terrificon in 2024 (via Screen Rant), Welling explained his pitch for Batman:
"I always thought that we should have had Bruce Wayne pass through somehow. That would have been really cool to see. You know how Clark always got into the Luthor mansion with no problem? But like, if he had gone into Lex's office, and it was just as simple as Lex being like 'Good to meet you, Bruce,' or 'I'll talk to you later, Bruce,' and have him just walk out. I think that would have been cool! But one of the challenges we had is DC movies and DC television don't talk to each other, and it's very difficult as a television show to try to use—it's a big deal, even using the Superman soundtrack."
Though Tom Welling's Clark didn't get to meet Bruce Wayne in live-action, Batman did eventually make his way into the Smallville universe in the Season 11 comic book continuation of the show.
The comics presented a significantly different version of the Dark Knight compared to previous incarnations. He was significantly rougher, wore a heavily armored suit, and his sidekick this time around was Barbara Gordon's Nightwing. Despite being a relatively big departure from the comics, Smallville Season 11's take on the Caped Crusader was an interesting concept that would have fit quite well into the show had he appeared there.
All 10 seasons of Smallville are streaming on HBO Max.
What do you think about Tom Welling as Batman? Do you want to see Smallville continue? Drop your thoughts in the comments!