While it’s true that it might not have a smidgen of the budget of Avengers: Endgame, the CW‘s upcoming cross-series specials are certainly getting rather ambitious with their casting.
The CW shows collectively known as the ‘Arrowverse‘ (Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash and Arrow – as well as the imminent Batwoman) will once again combine to have a story that flows across all the shows between December and January, this time emulating one of DC‘s major comic events, the now legendary Crisis on Infinite Earths. The 1980s comic series featured a threat to multiple realities and helped DC Comics scrap some of the baggage that they had from decades of contradicting continuity and realign their heroes with a more cohesive reality going forward (Did it work? Spoiler: it certainly wasn’t the last reset or reboot).
The CW version has already been hinted at within the broadcast stories to date but with Arrow finishing with its next run, there’s a chance there will be some genuine ramifications for the various remaining shows as the multiverse of various realities comes under threat. The CW have previously announced that as well as the regular heroes, there will be significant appearances from John Wesley Shipp (returning in the role of The Flash, one he first played in the 1980s series), Tyler Hoechlin (who appears as Superman in Supergirl), Brandon Routh (who plays Ray Palmer in Legends of Tomorrow, but previously essayed the Man of Steel in Bryan Singer’s big-screen reboot Superman Returns) and now….Tom Welling.
Welling, of course, played the younger version of Clark Kent in the hugely successful Smallville which ran from 2001 to 2011 and depicted the adventures of the character before he took on the mantle of Superman (the red and blue costume only appeared in the last few seconds of the show and in a flash-forward). Welling, recently seen guesting on Lucifer, will play an older and wiser version of the Smallville Clark as his reality comes under threat. It will be the first time he has reprised the character since the show ended.
In a statement, Arrow co-creator/executive producer Marc Guggenheim said how pleased he was to get Welling involved…
“For eight years, Arrow has stood on the shoulders of Smallville. Simply put, there would be no Arrow, and no Arrowverse, without it,” he said. “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.”
So far there’s no mention of Dean Cain (who famously played Clark in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman opposite Teri Hatcher) wearing the cape again though he already appeared as Kara/Supergirl’s adoptive father in the show alongside Helen Slater (who had played cinema’s Supergirl), so one shouldn’t rule out a few more surprises by the time of broadcast…
*UPDATE* It also appears that Erica Durance, who played Lois Lane in Smallville, will also be appearing in multiple episodes….
