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You don’t often get to see Green Arrow shake hands with Batman without flipping open a comic book, but that was exactly what happened as today’s Smallville Comic-Con panel came to a close. The final fan to stand up during the Q&A session was dressed up as the Dark Knight, and his question was, “When am I going to be on the show?” Showrunners Kelly Souders, Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer and Brian Peterson didn’t have an answer for the man, so instead he went up to the stage, shook hands with Justin Hartley and started posing for photos. It was a hilarious end to a very entertaining panel, which also featured Allison Mack alongside new cast members Sam Witwer and Cassidy Freeman.
Before Batman took over the panel, the Smallville execs showed glimpses of season 8, and also revealed that one cast member will soon be directing an episode.
Perhaps the biggest news to come from the panel is that comic book writer Geoff Johns will be penning an episode that introduces the Legion of Superheroes. For those unfamiliar with the comics, the Legion is a team headed up by Superboy that’s had many different members over the years. There’s no telling which heroes Johns will choose for his episode, but fans can certainly look forward to seeing some new faces.
The other big announcement is that Allison Mack will likely be directing an episode sometime in season 8. “We’re talking,” she teased. “I would be honored to have the opportunity. Nothing is confirmed.” At that moment, Slavkin interrupted her and said, “Let’s make it official.” The two then shook hands as the crowd erupted in cheers.
Here are some other highlights from the panel:
• When asked if they would stick to the “no tights, no flights” philosophy in season 8, Peterson said, “We’re gonna stick to the no tights part of that.” It seems like fans can expect Clark to take to the skies as he moves closer to accepting his destiny as Superman.
• The montage from season 8 showed glimpses of new villains Tess (played by Freeman) and Doomsday (Witwer), and also plenty of flirtation between Lois and Clark. His new job at the Daily Planet should help build the foundation for their romance.
• Fans will learn more about the origin of Green Arrow, and will also see him start to question his destiny.
• Witwer wanted to assure comic book fans that Doomsday will resemble the character from the page. “The cool thing is we’re not trashing the Doomsday backstory, we’re adding to it and interpreting it,” he said. “What we’re adding is sort of human consequence. Not just the human consequence of the people he victimizes, but the human consequence for himself because this guy is actually a nice guy.”
• As for new villain Tess, she’ll be coming in to run LuthorCorp and hanging out at Lex’s mansion. She’ll also use her feminine wiles to try and seduce Clark.
• What’s coming up for Chloe? “There’s a lot of struggle that she’s going to be having with trying to keep her personal relationship with Jimmy going, as well as sort of trying to cut the apron strings a little bit with Clark and forge ahead into her own passions,” Mack revealed. “Like Clark, you’ll see Chloe step into her own and have a lot less fear about what she’s able to do now, and start taking more responsibility for what she actually can achieve if she actually utilizes the powers that she’s been given.”
• Peterson promised that fans haven’t heard the last of Lex, but was hesitant about revealing exactly when or for how many episodes Michael Rosenbaum will return.
• When asked what show they’d most like to do a crossover with, two of the producers answered with Supernatural. Witwer would like to crossover with “the Hasselhoff version of Knight Rider,” and Allison Mack won my heart by responding with Mad Men.
• There’s always a possibility for Pete to return, though there are no plans yet. Maybe he can bring some Stride gum with him.
• Some Justice League members will show up in the season premiere.
• According to Slavkin, there is a definite ending planned for the series. “We’ve worked closely with [Al Gough and Miles Millar] for many, many years, and they’ve shared their ideas about the ending of the series,” he revealed. “We’re hoping it doesn’t happen for quite some time. But when it does happen, I think everyone in this room will be very, very happy. We’ve got some awesome ideas that will honor the mythology in a really great way.”
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(Image courtesy of Justin Hartley Online)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
