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Smallville: Christopher Reeve’s Deleted Return as Dr. Swann in “Gone”

The Dr. Swann character played by Christopher Reeve on Smallville was originally written into the episode “Gone,” and KryptonSite has the details.

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One of the most iconic moments in Smallville’s ten-year history was the first appearance of Dr. Virgil Swann in the episode “Rosetta.” Clark Kent (Tom Welling) learned of his Kryptonian origins at last, and as an added bonus, legendary Superman actor Christopher Reeve played the part. Reeve would return again in the Smallville Season 3 episode “Legacy.”

The part of the story that has not been talked about as much, though, is that Dr. Swann was originally set to appear at the start of Season 4, but unfortunately, his health would not allow and he died on October 10, 2004. It is to be assumed that some material was cut from the season premiere “Crusade” that may have reunited him with his Superman III co-star Annette O’Toole; instead, Swann’s envoy Dr. Bridgette Crosby, played by former Lois Lane actress Margot Kidder, filled in when the episode was finally shot and aired.

Sadly, we don’t know much about a possible Reeve version of “Crusade” but here at KryptonSite Central we do have a script draft of the episode “Gone” which includes a scene of Clark confronting Dr. Swann about the helicopters that were sent after him and Lois at the top of the episode. With Michael Rosenbaum & Tom Welling’s TalkVille podcast covering the episode this week, today felt like a great time to share.

For some background, the episode was written by future showrunners Brian Peterson & Kelly Souders, and the scene takes place right after Clark and Lois tell Jonathan and Martha about what happened. The next shot is Clark going through the double doors of Dr. Swann’s office in Metropolis. The office is described as having a lot of mahogany lit by a noirish green desk lamp.

“You sent them, didn’t you?” Clark asks, confronting Dr. Swann.

“I’m beginning to understand why Jor-El felt the need to employ such severe parenting techniques,” responds Swann.

Clark apologizes for barging in, but asks: “The guys in the helicopter — you sent them after me because it was your jet I broke into, wasn’t it?”

“When was the last time I sent helicopters after you, Clark?” Swann asks. “All I’ve ever offered you is guidance.”

“In exchange for what? There has to be a reason why you’re always so eager to help me,” Clark accuses, clearly unaware of the “Veritas” storyline that is about three seasons away.

“Does there?” Swann asks.

“That’s usually how it works,” Clark tells him.

Swann tells Clark that he’s becoming jaded, and Clark gives Swann the same routine he’d often give others. “Thanks to people like you. It’s like you know about some big puzzle out there but you won’t tell me what it is. You’re just using me to solve it,” he says, before asking Swann why he didn’t tell him about the crystal.

Swann is surprised to hear the word “crystal” and begins to look alarmed. “The crystal you’re referring to — did it bear the Kryptonian description for the word ‘Crusade?'” he asks, and Clark confirms that it did.

“That crystal may be intended for you, but the quest for it is centuries old,” Swann says before activating a large screen behind them. On the screen, Swann shows Clark locations across the world where there are etched Kryptonian symbols, inscriptions, and paintings, and he tells Clark that “every culture has its predictions” but none knew where the crystals actually were. He reveals that by his interpretation, there are three crystals, and that only Clark could find them.

Clark is confused – if they’re Kryptonian, why would anyone else want the crystals?

“Answers. Strength. No one knows for certain what power the crystals hold, but for 1200 years people have killed each other seeking them out,” Dr. Swann tells him. “The crusade for the crystals has been a bloody one, and there are dark forces who will stop at nothing to get them.”

“That must be why Jor-El sent me back. It was like he reprogrammed me to find them,” Clark says.

“But you didn’t listen,” Swann admonishes. “You’ve continually refused to accept your destiny, Clark. It was only a matter of time before someone accepted it for you.”

Sadly, Christopher Reeve was never able to film this scene or this episode of Smallville, though it would have been amazing if Dr. Swann had set the stage for the season arc of Smallville Season 4. For now, 19 years later, we can only reflect and think about what might have been….

Follow @KryptonSite on Twitter/X for continued Smallville news – KryptonSite still exists! If you would like to quote this in another article, PLEASE include a link and do not reproduce the whole thing, so people can read the rest here. Thanks!

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Smallville

Justin Hartley Would “Love” To Play Green Arrow Again

When asked if he’d play a superhero, Justin Hartley says he would love to play the Green Arrow again.

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Justin Hartley

Appearing yesterday on The Jennifer Hudson Show to promote his show Tracker, Justin Hartley was asked by Hudson if he’d ever like to play a superhero again… and his response might be surprising and of course welcomed by the Smallville fandom.

“I would love to play a superhero again,” he told her, continuing on to say which superhero he’d like to play.

“You know, there are so many interesting ones that have been portrayed and there are so many that haven’t yet been portrayed… what I think would be really cool, though, now that I’m older [and] I have different life experiences, I would approach it differently and it would be a different story… I’d like to jump back into that Green Arrow suit, honestly.”

He did have one caveat: “Maybe not that exact suit, but something a bit hipper.”

“I think you’d find him in a different place, and you could tell different stories,” Hartley said about Green Arrow and his alter ego. “He’s been through stuff, and I think it would be interesting. I would love that.”

Years before Stephen Amell donned the green tights, Justin Hartley played Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow in five seasons of Smallville. Of course, if he were to ever return, we assume his character would be a widower. Al & Miles, are you listening?

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Smallville

Smallville’s Kristin Kreuk Makes Comics Writing Debut With Black Star

Kristin Kreuk is co-writing a new comic book called Black Star for Titan Comics.

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Kristin Kreuk (Smallville’s Lana Lang) is writing an upcoming comic book!

Kristin is a writer and co-creator on Black Star, a new Titan Comics series that she is writing with collaborators Peter Mooney and Eric Putzer. It’s described as “a Northern Gothic noir steeped in horror and dark humor.” The series will be illustrated by artist Joe Bocardo.

Below, you can find the press release with more details; additionally, we have some preview imagery courtesy of Titan Comics! The images can be found first, and underneath, the release with more details about the comic, which will hit stores and digital devices on July 29. Be sure to get your copies and support Kristin’s latest venture — it’s a great way to say “thank you” for 25 years of Smallville enjoyment! (Fun fact: Titan published the Smallville: The Official Companion books through Season 7, with four of those books written by the author of this article! If only they’d still do 8-10…)

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March 9, 2026 – Globally renowned publisher Titan Comics are thrilled to be publishing Black Star (in stores and digital devices July 29, 2026) a debut comic series by acclaimed actress Kristin Kreuk (Smallville, Reacher, Murder in a Small Town). Co-written with Peter Mooney (Rookie Blue, Mistletoe Murders) and screenwriter Eric Putzer, and illustrated by artist Joe Bocardo (Nightwalkers, The Hexiles), this five-issue series is a Northern Gothic noir steeped in horror and dark humour.

Amidst skirmishes 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.

It’s a violent world: gritty, bloody, and dark. But that’s balanced with a sense of discovery and awe. The storytelling’s propulsive, and the morality grey. It’s The Revenant meets Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. It’s a love letter to a frozen corner of the world that few know. It’s weird. And wonderful. And something wholly its own.

Black Star was born while Peter, Eric, and I were filming “Burden of Truth” in Winnipeg.” said Kristin Kreuk. “We were inspired by the city’s lore and, because we worked so well together, began spending our spare time on set (and then, for years afterwards) developing our own take on the history and magic we imagined pulsing beneath its surface, shaping the rhythms of the city and the battles raging just beyond our view.” 

“Sometimes people come to my hometown and they can’t see past its rough edges or inhospitable weather. But it was clear Kristin and Eric could see right into the strangeness that makes Winnipeg so unique,” said co-writer Peter Mooney. “This isn’t so much an alternative history, but an omitted chapter that’s been lost to time. It’s bizarre and fantastical and entirely imagined — but it goes a long way towards explaining why the city is how it is today.” 

“There’s an intimacy to comics that no other form quite achieves; the reader controls the rhythm, the breath, the revelation,” said co-writer Eric Putzer. “In a story about power and human nature, we felt that intimacy necessary to make the reader an active part of the exchange.” – 

“For a comic book artist, working on a series as ambitious and well-written as Black Star is a gift,” said artist Joe Bocardo. “But if you also work on it with a talented and friendly team that gives you creative freedom, then it’s not a gift; it’s a privilege.”

“Set in the eerie, snow-blanketed wasteland of early 19th Century Winnipeg, this is magic as you’ve never seen it before,” said Titan Comics editor, Jake Devine. “Hopeful yet bleak, miraculous yet insidious, and only time will tell if the prize is worth the cost. Readers are going to be swept away by Joe Bocardo’s mesmerising artwork as it envelops them in a story filled with awe and tragedy.” 

Titan’s Black Star comics is set to launch with Issue #1 in stores and on digital devices July 29, 2026. 

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Smallville

Smallville Makes The Netflix Global TV Top Ten

Smallville is doing so well on Netflix that it is trending on the Netflix Global TV Top 10.

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Wednesday isn’t the only Alfred Gough and Miles Millar hit on Netflix these days: Weeks after being made available internationally on Netflix (where, sadly, it is not available in the United States — we have to watch on Hulu), Smallville is trending globally as one of the top ten series available on Netflix. Considering the show premiered nearly 25 years ago, this is quite the accomplishment!

To those who have been reading KryptonSite for the past, well, 25 years, it should be no surprise. Superman remains popular and the story of a young Clark Kent before he ever becomes Superman (as played by Tom Welling) is the kind of story anyone can identify with if they ever felt alienated. If it wasn’t Clark they could identify with, there was a character for everyone to latch on to and love. It’s why we used to fight so much on the forums (which are now back, by the way – come post!) — Smallville was a show you could invest in, and with 218 episodes to binge, there’s a lot of Smallville to pick from on Netflix. Sure, fans can fight over who their preferred Superman is — Henry Cavill as presented by Zack Snyder, or David Corenswet as directed by James Gunn — but, why not go toward the guy who has over 200 hours of material to watch, most of which is pretty good? [Except “Ageless.” Skip “Ageless.”]

Even without this global reach, Smallville has been going through a bit of a renaissance in the past few years. There’s the annual Salute to Smallville convention, this year happening in Nashville in November, where we’ll be celebrating the 25th anniversary. There’s TalkVille and other fantastic podcasts about the show. And of course KryptonSite still exists!

Now let’s get to #1, international fans? We’re counting on you. And for those of you who have just discovered the show and came across this website, welcome! In any event, leave some comments below and tell us how you came to find Smallville.

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