‘Smallville’: Why We Didn’t See Tom Welling in the Suit

The CW

Viewers always knew the CW’s Smallville series would end with Clark Kent’s transformation into Superman. But seeing series star Tom Welling in the full Superman suit wasn’t what the series was ultimately about.

Executive producers Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders spent 10 seasons supporting the “No Tights, No Flight” philosophy that ultimately fell by the wayside in Smallville’s two-hour May 13 series finale. But did Welling actually wear the entire suit?

“That is a great debate that’s going on,” Souders coyly told The Hollywood Reporter.

The finale included a few scenes in which Welling is seen sporting the upper-half of the Superman suit, however, the only full-suit scene is done from a distance and via CGI with Superman finally taking flight in space and saving the planet.

“What we wanted to do all along was show hints at where he was going because that is a whole different story that is yet to be told,” Peterson told THR. “It felt like it gave just enough without starting to tell a whole different story that is left for all the other media.’

Peterson, who penned Part 2 of the finale with Souders, noted that the series has always been about Clark becoming the hero from the famed mythos and that the adventures of Superman were stories that have been -- and will continue to be told -- via other avenues, including Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Man of Steel, set for next year. “[Showing Tom in the full suit] to me is just not super relevant and not what we were trying to do,” he said.

“We were actually thrilled that everybody came together and was on board with the shots that we specifically picked,” he added.

“We all wanted it to be the end of Clark Kent’s journey because it’s a show about Clark Kent,” he said. “In the days when we saw him in a flannel shirt, the suit was the furthest thing from his mind.”

Were you disappointed not to see Welling in the full suit?