Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No … it’s Tom Welling, and he’ll be reprising his SMALLVILLE role as Clark Kent for the CW’s upcoming DC Arrowverse crossover, “Crisis on Infinite Earths!”
News of Welling joining the CW’s latest major television superhero extravaganza comes not long after it was announced that Man of Steel actors Tyler Hoechlin and Brandon Routh would also be appearing as a part of the Arrowverse’s next major show-spanning event. As you might recall, talk of several Superman actors making the scene for the CW’s “Crisis” began over the summer, at which point Welling, Hoechlin and Routh were all named as wishlist players for the upcoming superhero spectacle.
According to reports, Hoechlin and Routh were easy gets, on account of them already starring as integral members of the CW superhero brand – Routh plays Ray Palmer/The Atom for DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW while Hoechlin often stars as Superman on the Melissa Benoist-led SUPERGIRL. However, Welling proved to be more of a challenge, with some saying that he was reluctant to return to the character. Be that as it may, we now have confirmation that all the wrinkles of the deal have been ironed out, and he’ll be reprising his role as Clark Kent for the crossover. Additionally, the event is also expected to explore what happened to his character almost a decade after the events of SMALLVILLE – a detail that fans of the show are undoubtedly looking forward to discovering.
“For eight years, Arrow has stood on the shoulders of Smallville. Simply put, there would be no Arrow, and no Arrowverse, without it,” said ARROW co-creator/executive producer Marc Guggenheim about Welling joining the fray. “So when we first started talking about Crisis on Infinite Earths, our first, second and third priorities were getting Tom to reprise his iconic role as Clark Kent. To say that we’re thrilled would be a Superman-sized understatement.”
For the moment, there is no indication that Welling will be suiting up as Superman for the crossover. This being the case, Arrowverse fans still have plenty to look forward to when the epic five-episode event spans five of the CW’s most beloved superhero shows – ARROW, THE FLASH, SUPERGIRL, DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW and BATWOMAN. The “Crisis on Infinite Earths” event will be divided up into two parts with three episodes airing in December while the remaining two will arrive in January.