Erica Durance, who portrayed Lois Lane on Smallville for six seasons, gave an update on her participation in the impending animated reboot of the DC series.
Agents of Fandom questioned Durance on the status of Smallville’s much awaited return during an appearance at the 2022 Saskatoon Expo. I understand that the process is ongoing; the men will inform me when I need step in and in what capacity, Durance said. As a result, I believe they are now in the idea-generation or pre-production stages.
Durance last appeared as Lois Lane in the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover episode of the Arrowverse. The actor and Smallville co-star Tom Welling both made brief appearances in the Batwoman episode in a scene opposite Lex Luthor from Supergirl (Jon Cryer). Clark and Lois from Smallville were now living on the Kent farm and raising two young girls, according to the crossover. The forthcoming resurrection, however, Durance thought would take place before Crisis on Infinite Earths. Durance remarked, “I’d like to see them (Clark and Lois) go to Metropolis. It would be interesting to see where the plot would lead them, in my opinion.
The animated series would take up “immediately after our Smallville [Season 10],” Welling promised fans in February 2022. Added he, “Once more, we are telling our own story and aiming to win Erica [Durance] over. It might be challenging to convince Allison [Mack]… However, Lionel Luthor and Sam Jones III, who played Pete Ross, will play a significant role in that. We’ve talked about John Glover wanting to do it.”
The CW broadcast Smallville from 2001 to 2011, airing 217 episodes over 10 seasons. Clark Kent was never allowed to fly or wear Superman’s famous suit in the series due to the “no tights, no flights” rule that was included in the pitch for the project. The writers were able to concentrate on Clark Kent’s early life and the choices and events that eventually made him the Man of Steel thanks to this mandate. Welling admitted in October 2021 that the “no tights, no flights” policy contributed to Smallville’s cancellation after Season 10, despite the show’s continued popularity among viewers. The actor said, “We ran out of story for Clark. Clark had to become Superman because a Superman from Smallville was impossible.