The Smallville series finale featured the surprise return of Lex Luthor—Michael Rosenbaum left the show after Season 7—and Clark Kent finally breaking the show's infamous "no flights, no tights" rule.
Tom Welling donned Superman's suit, but was only shown as a small CG figure from afar before tearing open his shirt to reveal the iconic emblem in the final scene. It's a moment that frustrated fans at the time, but it's no secret the actor didn't want to wear the costume and forever be remembered as Superman.
However, Welling has now revealed that Smallville couldn't afford to put him in the suit, regardless of how he felt. "We toed the line a few times, don’t get me wrong, but they couldn’t do it without me saying, 'All right, this one will be all right,'" he said of having the "no flights, no tights" ethos written into his contract.
"We didn’t even do a rehearsal on [the shirt rip scene], because we didn’t want anyone to see it if it wasn’t right," Welling continued, recalling that he'd asked for assurance that there wouldn't be a full suit and was told by the head of wardrobe, "No, no, no — it’s too expensive."
"We got to set that day, and they had given me just a T-shirt, with no sleeves to wear underneath the shirt. Because they didn’t have the money to put the suit on, and they weren’t going to see it anyway. We can’t go with [Superman]. But he’s out there."
That would explain why Welling donned the Superman Returns costume; by that point, there was clearly no room in the budget to create something new that would fit the actor from head to toe.
As for Rosenbaum, he originally left Smallville over a contract dispute. He explained, "It was like, 'Hey, we want you to come back for three years — we want you to sign a three-year deal, and give you no increase in pay.' And anybody who works in any business, it’s like, 'Oh, I’m an integral part of this show, or this business,' or whether you work at Kmart or whatever."
"And you’re like, 'I’m part of the success, and don’t I need to get rewarded?' So I said, 'Yeah, no thanks.' And that was it."
Rosenbaum did, however, agree to return for the finale for a handful of scenes and to play President Luthor in the episode's closing moments. He was a last-minute addition, but remembers thinking, "You should come back and wrap it up for the fans — I think the fans will love it. And I didn’t realize how much I would love it, and I’m glad I did it."
You can hear a little more from Welling and Rosenbaum in the X post below.