Smallville

Smallville Shocker: Co-Creator Miles Millar Admits “Chlois” Was Talked About (UPDATED)

Smallville co-creator Miles Millar admits that the notion of Chloe Sullivan becoming Lois Lane had been discussed.

Published

2 years ago

November 24, 2023

The latest episode of the Tom Welling-Michael Rosenbaum Smallville podcast TalkVille went out this week, and in it, Michael asks the show’s creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar two questions that fans have speculated about for decades… with, perhaps, a surprise answer in one of those cases.

Let’s start with the headline-grabber: In the Smallville Season 3 episode “Delete,” Chloe uses the name “Lois Lane” as a byline, which fueled the fan fires that “Chlois” – the theory that Allison Mack’s character Chloe Sullivan would somehow or someday change her name to Lois Lane – was a direction the show would ultimately be taking. On the podcast, Michael Rosenbaum asked the producers if this was something that was actually considered.

“We did talk about that, that maybe she is the proto-Lois and that later on, she had to change her identity or something like that, and she becomes Lois Lane,” Miles Millar answered.

“The issue, again, was we wanted to get Lois Lane, and they wouldn’t give her to us,” Al Gough added, before speaking a bit about other conflicts the show had with the movie division of Warner Bros. “Then when she came in in Season 4, there was this huge thing about ‘you can have her for two episodes,’ and then ‘you can have her for three,’ and then ‘you can have her for half the season’ and [WBTV head] Peter Roth, to his credit, was like ‘f— it. She’s in the show now and she’s just not leaving’,” he continued.

“She became part of the show. It was never questioned again,” Miles said, with Al Gough adding that Lois Lane actress Erica Durance was “fantastic.”

It isn’t known when the possibility of actually doing “Chlois” had been discussed on the show. The notion that Chloe Sullivan was Lois Lane’s cousin was officially confirmed, almost accidentally by Miles Millar at the San Diego Comic-Con panel for Smallville in 2002. Prior to that, the writer of this very article had been told before the pilot even filmed that “Chloe is Lois Lane’s cousin.” In doing an interview for Smallville: The Official Companion Season 7 (also by me), Al Gough reiterated that the show would not end with “Chlois.”

“Chloe, from the inception of the show, was always Lois’s cousin,” he said. “It might have even been in the pilot script. The idea that she was going to turn into Lois was never going to happen.”

UPDATE: We went to Smallville co-creator Alfred Gough for clarification on when “Chloe Sullivan might be Lois Lane” was considered, and we have an answer: “We discussed it when we were developing the show in mid 2000, but even in the series pitch document Lois was her cousin,” he responded to KryptonSite exclusively.

On a similar note, Michael also asked if Ian Somerhalder’s Adam Knight character was supposed to be Bruce Wayne — something that was actually a KryptonSite April Fool only a few months before Somerhalder’s actual casting. It sounds like that one was a for-sure “no.”

“[Bruce Wayne] was a name we were clearly trying to put out there, but we but we could never get Batman. At that point, it was off the table, because [Christopher] Nolan was in literally making Batman Begins at this point,” Gough said. (You can read more about Al and Miles trying to get Bruce Wayne in their 20th anniversary interview here at KryptonSite).

What do you all think? Did the tens of thousands of KryptonSite Forum Chlois posts actually move the needle, or was this just a passing notion, like “wouldn’t it be cool if….?” We may never know, but you can see the Gough/Millar TalkVille episode below, where you can get some great insights into the “Memoria” episode that Miles directed. Enjoy!

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1 Comment

Tabby

November 25, 2023 at 5:27 am

Yeah. Years of internet fighting, being sucked into a cult, scarred for life, only to find out our spidey senses were on point? You win, cruel world. Lol

Reply

Smallville

New Video Spotlights Superman References on Smallville

Warner Bros. celebrates the Superman references of Smallville in a new video.

Published

1 month ago

January 1, 2026

Craig Byrne

We’re starting to think someone at the Warner Bros. social media team may be a Smallville fan as they have recently posted a new video spotlighting the references to Superman on Smallville. Of course, it’s not every reference ever, but it’s nice to see the show being spotlighted by WB and DC in this day and age, especially now that we are in the year that will mark 25 years since the premiere of Smallville on October 16, 2001. With ten seasons and 218 episodes, there’s a lot to choose from! (Yes, 218. “Absolute Justice” counts as two!)

What was your favorite Superman reference? Leave some comments below and unless there’s some kind of disaster, we promise the KryptonSite Forums will return sooner rather than later! Happy Anniversary Year, everybody!

Smallville

Michael Rosenbaum on Smallville Animated, Favorite Lexes & More

Michael Rosenbaum spoke with Bleeding Cool about his version of Lex Luthor on Smallville and offers a Smallville animated update

Published

2 months ago

November 28, 2025

Craig Byrne

Michael Rosenbaum recently spoke with the Bleeding Cool website about a number of topics, including the much-asked-about Smallville animated project. Unfortunately, the latest seems to be no update on what we’ve heard before.

“I would say the Smallville animated series that I created, and we have Al and Miles, creators of Smallville, who are in, and Tom Welling. We want to do it, and it’s just got to be the right timing. Right now, I’m not sure it is, but we’ll see. I think it will happen at some point, but I don’t know when. I wish I had an oracle, but I hope it comes to fruition,” Michael told them.

Rosenbaum also discussed the things that really made his Lex Luthor work.

“Ultimately, if you don’t know anything about the character’s past or don’t know why he became evil, then to me, you’re missing the special sauce and the ingredients. That’s what is most important to me. I knew I was playing a character, we were going to delve into his past, his childhood, his relationship with his father, and with other people. We saw him evolve, and I thought that’s what was interesting,” he said. “I thought the creators (behind Smallville, Al (Gough) and Miles (Millar) did a terrific job, and that’s why people liked what I did, because I had the opportunity to be likable, lovable, and be understood, and then I turned. You know why I did, and to me, that’s the best villain. When you see different layers, that’s all I’ll say about that. There have been some great actors to play Lex, but I think that’s the most important thing to me, and I had the luxury of having years to develop and become the ultimate villain,” he continued.

As for his favorite Lex Luthor actors?

Michael’s favorite is Gene Hackman “because of the nostalgia,” and he loves Nicholas Hoult’s take on the character from James Gunn’s 2025 Superman film. He also had fond things to say about Michael Cudlitz and Jon Cryer.

You can read the full Bleeding Cool interview here.

Smallville

Salute to Smallville 2026 Adds Erica Durance & Laura Vandervoort

Erica Durance and Laura Vandervoort will be attending the 2026 Salute to Smallville convention in Nashville.

Published

2 months ago

November 20, 2025

Craig Byrne

The 2026 Salute to Smallville convention celebrating the 25th anniversary of Smallville is happening in Nashville on November 6 & 7, and while that time is a little less than a year away, Creation Entertainment is already adding more guests!

Previously, the convention announced Tom Welling (Clark Kent), Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor), Eric Johnson (Whitney Fordman), and Adrianne Palicki (Lindsay Harrison/”Kara” from “Covenant”) – today, they are announcing two of Smallville’s most popular actors to the roster. Who, you ask?

The first of the two guests joined Smallville in Season 4. Originally set for only four episodes, she was so well liked and did such a great job in the role that she kept coming back… and coming back… and ultimately, the show was able to give us the actual Lois Lane that we all deserved, finally allowing Clark and Lois to be romantic on the show. We are talking, of course, about Erica Durance!

Next up is our favorite Supergirl, with no offense to others who have played the role. Yes, actor and award-winning director Laura Vandervoort is coming too! Laura was busy getting married at the time of the second Salute, and it’ll be great to see her again.

DISCLAIMER: KryptonSite webmaster and Salute to Smallville co-emcee Craig Byrne who wrote this article also is an employee of Creation Entertainment. But trust that means that I know full well how great we plan on making it!