Smallville
“Justice” Wasn’t Smallville’s Only Justice League Spinoff Attempt
The Smallville Season 6 episode “Justice” may not have been the only time a Justice League spinoff was proposed.
A 2016 KryptonSite post where we shared outtakes from the Smallville: The Official Companion Season 6 book in which Smallville producer/director/writer Steven DeKnight talked about the possibilities that the “Justice” episode could lead to a spinoff has recently been discussed in several places on the Internet, and what wasn’t really talked about in that post is that it wasn’t the only time a Justice League-like spinoff from Smallville had been proposed.
The most commonly known possibility aside from “Justice” has been spoken about on the record by Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. One place that this proposal was talked about was in an interview with author/journalist Ed Gross in his “Voices From Krypton” magazine published in 2006.
In the story relayed by Alfred Gough in the magazine, he and Miles had pitched a Lois Lane series in 2000, before they even came on for Smallville. Instead, of course, they found out they could pitch Smallville, and the rest was history, but five years later, Warner Bros. contacted the producers and asked about the Lois Lane idea again, since by this point the world of Smallville already had a Lois Lane in Erica Durance.
“We thought we couldn’t do the idea we were going to do five years earlier,” Gough explained, as the original Lois Lane pitch was an “Ally McBeal meets Nancy Drew” type show in which she would solve Night Stalker-like cases – especially since there were other shows that were doing the same thing by that point. Gough and Millar have since talked about how they wanted to pair Lois Lane with some young heroes in Metropolis, which may have been part of the project’s downfall. “Ultimately, we wanted too many characters from the DC Universe and the feeling was that it would change the Metropolis mythology, even though this was all pre-Superman. It wasn’t really the Superman movie [Superman Returns] that was the problem, it was more because we wanted characters that they feared would alter the mythology of Metropolis. So that was dead in the water,” Gough said. Warner Bros.’ Peter Roth would again approach the producers, though, when the episode “Aqua” aired, and that ultimately led to the development of the Aquaman series, though, of course, that wasn’t directly tied to Smallville and Justin Hartley replaced Alan Ritchson in the role. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves…
The next proposal, mentioned above, would have spun out of “Justice” and involved Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley) and some other young heroes in Metropolis, borrowing a little bit from that Lois Lane idea. You can read Steven DeKnight’s thoughts about that here. At the time, DeKnight sounded optimistic as if a spinoff could someday still happen; unfortunately, that wasn’t something he would have been able to do himself as he departed Smallville in 2007 for the short-lived Viva Laughlin; he later had great success with Spartacus a few years later. But… this might not have been the only time Smallville attempted to spin off the Justice League.
The Season 7 episode “Siren” saw the return of Oliver Queen and in that episode, we also met Dinah Lance a.k.a. the Black Canary. Their departure at the end of the episode felt like it was setting up a spinoff, but as far as we know at the time that wasn’t a concern, especially as the episode was written prior to a writers’ strike that derailed the TV season. However, a series of events around the Season 8 premiere “Odyssey” have inspired some still-unconfirmed rumors that are worth discussing.
For starters, after The CW signed Justin Hartley to a talent deal and he had done two other pilots for the network, Smallville was able to get him back, this time as a series regular for Seasons 8-10. Season 8 was a period of major change for the show following the departures of Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk, and John Glover, so an additional familiar face was nice to see around. Fellow Justice Leaguers Black Canary and Aquaman were also present for that Season 8 premiere… and, oddly, there was a series of promotional photos that featured the characters. This is odd in the sense that usually, these kinds of photo shoots are only done for series regulars. Also odd is that these photos were used for a Smallville Season 8 “poster” that also included series regulars Tom Welling, Erica Durance, and Allison Mack. We get why Justin Hartley would be on the poster, but why were Alaina Huffman (Black Canary) and Alan Ritchson (Aquaman) there?!?!
That leads us to the first rumor, which again, is unconfirmed: We once heard talk that a Justice League mini-pilot was actually shot following the filming of “Odyssey,” using Hartley, Huffman, and Ritchson who were already in Vancouver to film. Aside from the photo gallery, though, we haven’t seen any proof that this actually happened. Do note that this may not have had much conflict with George Miller’s proposed Justice League movie around that time, which mostly involved other characters.
The second thing might have some legs, but if it was a serious proposal, it was never shot: As the end of filming for Season 8 approached, Tom Welling still had not signed a contract for Seasons 9 and 10. Yes, there was a distinct possibility that “Doomsday” could have been the end, and yes, that would have been awful. But, the rumors we were hearing here at KryptonSite at that time is that if Tom had not signed on, or if his fate was still uncertain, a short Justice League-ish pilot involving the “Doomsday” Justice League guest stars would have been shot, again because those actors were already in town. Alaina Huffman and Kyle Gallner (Impulse) appeared in that episode, as did one of the Legion of Super-Heroes (Ryan Kennedy as Cosmic Boy). This, of course, never ended up happening as Tom Welling signed back on and Smallville got two more seasons to end up at 10.
With ten seasons of Smallville, it is a shame that the show never was able to spawn a spinoff, though being the only show of its kind for most of its run had to have had benefits. The show is still being talked to today and fondly remembered by fans of each era of the series. It is still fun, though, to speculate on what might have been….
Smallville
Smallville Creators To Attend 25th Anniversary Convention
Smallville creators Alfred Gough & Miles Millar will be attending Creation’s 25th anniversary convention.
Every story has a beginning… and these two were there at the very beginning.
As if there weren’t enough reasons already to attend Creation Entertainment’s 25th Anniversary Salute to Smallville convention which is happening November 7-8, 2026 in Nashville… two new additions have been added to the already-packed lineup… two folks who were there at the very start.
Smallville creators Alfred Gough & Miles Millar will be attending the 25th anniversary show, which will run a few weeks after the 25th anniversary of the October 16, 2001 premiere of Smallville on The WB. They’ll be joining a lineup already populated by some huge names including Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk, Erica Durance and more, and this year, there are even some new guests that are attending their first Creation Smallville show, including the legendary Helen Slater (Lara-El) and Phil Morris (John Jones!)
Beyond Smallville, Al & Miles have kept themselves very busy on several projects, most recently Netflix’s Wednesday and the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice film. Other credits of theirs include The Shannara Chronicles, Into the Badlands, and Spider-Man 2, the last of which is known by many as “the best live-action Spider-Man movie.” As far as we know, this is their first convention discussing Smallville since their time on the show way back when it was Season 7 being promoted at San Diego Comic-Con. If you’ve had questions about the show that you’ve been sitting on for over two decades, the two best people to answer them – Al Gough & Miles Millar – will now be there!
The anniversary convention will be co-emceed by KryptonSite’s Craig Byrne (that’s me!) and The House of El’s Derek Russell for the third year in a row, and we’d love to see you.
Get your admission passes, photo ops, autographs and more by visiting Creation’s website!
If you are still on the fence about going, Creation is offering 10% off all admission passes, photo op, autograph, and special event tickets for a limited time! Use the coupon code SMV10 and click “Apply” to get the discount (service fees and sales tax will still apply). The sale ends Saturday, July 18 at 5:00 PM PST.
A full guest list of the actors can be found below.
Comics
Black Star: Pre-Order The Comic From Kristin Kreuk Today!
Kristin Kreuk’s comic book Black Star is available to pre-order from your local comic shop.
July 29, 2026 will mark the release of the first issue of the new Titan Comics series Black Star which is written by Smallville alum and current Murder In A Small Town star Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang) alongside collaborators Peter Mooney and Eric Putzer with art by Joe Bacardo. The five-issue series is described as “a Northern Gothic Noir tinged with horror and dark humor.”
In Black Star, amidst skirmishings between two warring factions in the early nineteenth-century fur trade, Dashiell Carlyle discovers he has magical abilities… and that he’s not alone. Thrust into a secret order with designs to use their magic to build a new and better world, Dashiell discovers that their utopia may come at a horrific cost.
Here at KryptonSite, we of course are very supportive of Kristin’s new endeavor and hope others will by pre-ordering the first issue of the series. While there may be copies on the shelf on the day of release, pre-ordering means that you shouldn’t miss out… and the key pre-order period is what really helps for sales, as retailers have until Monday, July 6 to get their orders in. To find your nearest comic shop, visit the Comic Shop Locator website, and to ask then to pre-order a physical copy for you, call your local comic shop or, if in the UK or Europe, you can contact Forbidden Planet. Black Star will also have a presence (and an exclusive cover) at the Comic-Con International in San Diego later this month… just head to Booth #5337 (the Titan Publishing booth) to get yours! [Maybe while there, tell Titan you want more Smallville companion guide books from Craig Byrne! – shameless Craig]
The other thing you can do to ensure you get all five issues of Black Star is to set up a “pull-list” subscription with your local comic store, which tells the retailer to put aside a copy for you each time a new issue is released, on a rolling basis. Some retailers will also offer you the option of pulling just the first issue of any new related series, so you can try it before you commit. Either way, you won’t have to worry about it selling out before you get your chance!
Finally, you can pre-order a digital copy online… and maybe get a few cents to KryptonSite from an affiliate link as well. You can do that here.
Now for the really fun stuff… want to see some interior pages as well as several variant covers they are releasing. Artists for the covers include Martin Simmonds (The Department of Truth), Joe Bacardo (Black Star), Robert Hack (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), and Alison Sampson (Sleeping Beauties)! Enjoy:
Smallville
Smallville Ended 15 Years Ago Today
The final episode of Smallville aired May 13, 2011 on The CW.
Smallville Creators To Attend 25th Anniversary Convention
Black Star: Pre-Order The Comic From Kristin Kreuk Today!
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