Smallville’s “Black Canary” Alaina Huffman will be making her first appearance at one of Creation’s all-Smallville fan conventions with Salute to Smallville this weekend, October 13-14 just outside of Chicago, Illinois. You can read more about the convention here, but in short, this will be the ultimate fan experience: Over a dozen actors from Smallville (including almost the entire Season 1 cast!), fan-favorite guest stars, autographs, photo opportunities, panels… oh, and the event is emceed by myself (KryptonSite’s Craig Byrne) and House of El’s Derek Russell!

We spoke with Alaina in anticipation of this weekend’s show, and full disclosure, she’s always been a favorite around here, so it was a privilege to get to speak with her again. The interview follows below.

KRYPTONSITE’S CRAIG BYRNE: You’ve been doing Creation conventions for a while, especially with Supernatural. How did you first become involved with these shows?

ALAINA HUFFMAN: My very first convention ever was actually San Diego. It was to launch Stargate [Stargate Universe], and I did not know what to expect. And then, I was made aware of the Creation Tour and how big it was. And so I first started with Stargate, and then, and then Supernatural’s just become its whole own event. It’s been such a blessing. We’ve just been on tour for, gosh, over the last 15 years and 20 years for Creation, 15 years for me.

What surprised you about the convention experience?

I didn’t know it existed. First of all, I had no clue. Like I said, San Diego was the first one [that I went to]. And it’s such a, like, huge media show. And of course, we launched a new show and, you know, we had a packed room and I remember I was married at the time and we were sitting on the panel and I was just looking out in this huge room of people, and my husband had texted me under the table and he was like “say something! They’ll like you!” because I was really overwhelmed. I didn’t know. It really is a complete different aspect of the business that I was really unaware of, and it’s actually been such a surprising treat. I mean, we, we’ve really cultivated, particularly with Supernatural, and Stargate as well, and Smallville also, this big global family. We’ve been able to do really amazing philanthropic endeavors with the Supernatural fandom and just really connect with people.

I’ve been at my table where people have met for the first time in person, where there’s one from England and one from somewhere in America, and they’ve been friends for years online because of a show. Yeah. It’s just such a cool experience to be a part of. Seeing the joy as we look out… we’re always amazed. We always kind of come back to the green room after our panels and we’re like, “did you ask the audience who’s there for the first time?” And about 40% or 50% of the audience, it’s their first time attending.

I always ask [the fans], “what made you transition from watching the show to attending the events?” And they all just say “it looks like so much fun. We watched the panels online and we’ve made friends online and we just we want to show up.” And so, we try to make it a really fun experience for everybody.

And the other really sweet thing that’s happening with Supernatural that I really first witnessed with Stargate was that families would come together. And so Stargate, because it was running so long, and I was sort of on the tail end of that show… people would come with their kid that’s like towering over them and they’re like, “oh, we started watching this show on Friday nights because we had a baby. We couldn’t go out.” And now, you’re kind of part of their family. We’re also getting that a lot with Supernatural, like a lot of mothers and daughters or a lot of dads and daughters, and it’s just really sweet. You feel like part of their family.

How did you get involved with this year’s Salute to Smallville show?

Just the same. I’ve been in the Creation family for so long, and, of course, being on Smallville, we’re all really close. They’re pretty much out on tour as well. So I see Tom and Rosey and Erica and Kristin and everybody sort of out and about. So, yeah, I was invited, and I said yes.

Is there anyone that you’re particularly excited to see again that maybe you haven’t seen in a while from when you did Smallville?

Truthfully, we’ve all been on tour, so I get to catch up with everybody. Most recently, who I haven’t seen in a while is Justin [Hartley]. He’s been busy working, but we talk every now and again. He’s up in Vancouver working on Tracker. Actually, I have an audition for Tracker that I’m going to do right after I get off the phone with you. So, hopefully I get to see him soon! But, yeah, it’s nice. I was just on Tom and Rosey’s podcast TalkVille because they just did my entry episode [“Siren”], so that was fun.

Going back over 15 years now, what was your reaction when you originally booked the role of the Black Canary?

So the interesting thing is, and I talked about this on TalkVille… they didn’t tell me what the role was. I had gone in with dummy sides, and it was like a two page audition, and they didn’t ,name her. I think they should call her “Woman.” And, then when they called me to ask my availability and contracts and all that, they were like, “okay, well, you booked the job. It’s going to be an arc. We don’t have a lot of details yet, and we’re not going to tell you who the character is.”

This was kind of when I was first made aware of NDAs and sort of spoilers and that whole genre world. I was really kind of unaware at how sort of secretive and precious that kind of stuff was.

They did eventually tell me. I don’t know if I signed an NDA, but it definitely was like a “you’re not allowed to talk about this until we say” kind of thing. I was a little overwhelmed, vut also, she’s such a great character, so I got to do a lot of reading up on her. There’s so much mythology on her, and years of comics to sort of devour, so I had lots to pull from, which was really cool.

Was there ever talk of spinning off you and Justin into your own series after the “Siren” episode? Yes. Every time we were at work, they were like “Star City! Tuesday nights!”

And they go and make a whole Arrow show without us.

I showed one of my friends the “Siren” episode a couple months ago was like, doesn’t this feel like a pilot for a show? Because it really did. Do you think they tried to make that happen?

I think that was the goal. I know they did the Aquaman show this season before, and then they brought Justin back when it didn’t get picked up, [now] as Green Arrow. I think they did try with all of the superheroes. I think that was sort of their idea, to do a whole universe, and it just didn’t.. I don’t know what happened.

That brings up an interesting question. It was rumored that you, Justin, and Alan Ritchson filmed a Justice League “mini pilot” after the Season 8 premiere was shot, because around that time you all did a photoshoot in costume that made people think something more was going on.

No, that was just for press… we just did that on a regular work day.

Have you kept up with the other interpretations of the Black Canary that have followed you?

Yeah, a little bit. I mean, Katie [Cassidy] and I are friends. Julianna [Harkavy] and I are friends. I’ve seen episodes of Arrow. I’ve stopped by the set. David Ramsey’s a really good friend. He’s one of my best friends. I’m familiar with that universe, but, I didn’t really follow up. At one point, they were going to do a Black Canary spinoff in the Berlantiverse. And I pitched to… I think it was Sera Gamble at the time when they were when they were talking about it. I pitched that they could bring me in as sort of like the den mom, like the OG Canary, because they were going to have all these Black Canaries. They seemed to like that idea, but it didn’t get picked up.

What can fans do with you at the convention this weekend?

There’s a meet and greet. I’m sure there’s an evening event I think we’ll just be at our tables [signing autographs and taking photos], and I’m sure there’s going to be some panels. It’s always fun to have group discussions. Come say hi!

[You can see the Salute to Smallville 2025 schedule here.]

What else have you been up to that fans should keep an eye out for?

I have a movie that’s premiering.  It’s called Waltzing With Brando, and it will be out in theaters on September 19th. Billy Zane plays Marlon Brando. It takes place in the 1970s. And it’s about, Marlon Brando wanting to inhabit his island of tent ROA. And Jon Heder plays the architect who makes it happen, and I play John’s wife. Dana, and we sort of camp out in Tahiti for three years while we make what now is a very luxurious hotel called the Brando.

See a trailer for Alaina’s new film below and be sure to get your Salute to Smallville tickets! The fun starts Saturday, September 13 in the Chicago area!

Please note spoilers for the Superman & Lois SERIES FINALE “It Went By So Fast” are being dicsussed in this interview! If you’re on the West Coast and/or haven’t watched yet, now is a good time to stop reading!

Well, we’ve reached that end point. Superman & Lois has ended, we have glimpses of the future, and while some characters were reunited in the afterlife, there were, of course, some who won’t be around forever. Hopefully you had tissues handy for those final moments.

After screening the S&L finale KryptonSite’s Craig Byrne was able to interview showrunners Todd Helbing and Brent Fletcher about the finale, and we touched upon some things audience might just be wondering. It’s likely our last S&L interview with this duo, and we thank them for frequently being available to talk to promote the show. Enjoy, and remember you can discuss the finale on our Superman & Lois forum!

KRYPTONSITE: Was it intentional to fill the final episode with tie ins back to all four seasons of the show?

BRENT FLETCHER: Yeah. We wanted to honor everything that came before, and then tell a life to come, so we felt like it was important to highlight that stuff.

There were obviously some things that we would have liked to have added. We missed Tal-Rho (Adam Rayner) we would have liked to have had him in there. You have constraints based on budget and time and personnel, but we wanted to kind of honor the whole breadth of the series in that moment.

Beyond Tal-Rho, is there any guest star you had hoped you can make it into the finale that you just couldn’t make happen?

TODD HELBING: I think we would have ideally had Dylan Walsh back in the moment when Lois says “Daddy.” I think also it would have been nice to get Lucy (Jenna Dewan) back for the last season.

BRENT: And the Mannheims! Peia and Mateo… we would have found a way to use them, for sure.

Speaking of guest stars, as that Bitsie Tulloch’s husband David Giuntoli is adult Jonathan?

TODD: That was David. We reached out to him, and he was so gracious to do it. And then, we really wanted to cast somebody that looked like Alex. Both of them got older, showed up, and had to cry, basically. So that was some awesome work.

Can you talk about bringing Bruno Mannheim (Chad Coleman) in for both of the final episodes?

TODD: He said in season three to Superman, that basically he hadn’t made any real change. Clearly, that sat with [Clark] for a long time, and we really wanted to hit this. We talked about that idea in the room quite a bit, so we really wanted to infuse that in the last season, so it felt like bringing Bruno back to tee that up was was the right move. Chad Coleman was just so fantastic, as always.

Can you talk about all the good that Clark and Lois are doing in Smallville even after he no longer has his powers.

BRENT: We kind of saw it as, again, to what Bruno had said, He has been reaching out and doing diplomatic stuff ,and doing economic stuff ,and trying to help in ways that don’t involve strength. They involve organization ,and participation, and getting other people to join. So we felt like That was kind of an interesting thing, for a man that had once had all this power, to then have power in a different way, but also still doing great good.

Are we to assume that there was never a Justice League in this world?

TODD: Yeah, very likely not. Not in the way that you historically think about it.

So does that imply that Jonathan and Jordan are the main heroes of this world?

TODD:

Jon, Jordan… Nat is part of that….. John Henry, too.

Are Clark and Lois still alive on Earth-Prime?

TODD: [Laughs] You know, I would assume that yeah, probably… I feel like it.

Was it surreal to have been the custodians of Superman and Lois Lane, telling their stories in such a unique way for the last four years?

TODD: Whenever you’re you’re writing stories for a property as big as this and as beloved as you know both of those those characters are, and trying to put your own spin on it and do something a little bit different than what people are used to, there are inherent pressures that come with that. But I think from the get go, we got such great response from people, and that response grew and grew. I’m just really proud to have been a part of such a special property.

BRENT: My first day of work, I was driving to Burbank, and the car in front of me had a big Superman “S” on it. And it really struck me “oh, this thing is big!” This person cared enough to put that emblem on their car, and I’m about to contribute to this… so I think you have to be very mindful of that, but it’s also kind of thrilling, because you get in there andyou can’t be subservient to it. You have to want to put your own spin and have a thing to say. Todd and Greg [Berlanti] had built a really great pilot that had such a great engine, and it was such a degree different than what I had seen before, with the family element and just struggling to be parents, with these great heroes… I felt like we always served that idea, and that made it its own unique thing, but felt worthy of the umbrella of all the other [Superman media].

It’s daunting, but it’s also thrilling to be part of that. You think “where did I make a good life decision that allows me to be a part of this?” And that’s fun.

TODD: At some point in one of the early pitches, it was said that the Superman crest is the second most recognizable icon in the world, next to the Christian cross, which when you think about it in those terms, it’s a little like “holy moly!”

I believe I read an interview you guys did where you said that you wanted this finale to be different from any other Superman type finale that we’ve ever seen before. Can you talk about that?

TODD: We watched a lot of series finales, and we know how important it is as audience members and fans of other shows, when you get to that moment, you just want something that emotionally resonates with you and has a lasting effect, so we approached it that way. We had an idea what we wanted to do, but the way it was going to be doled out, we took some time with, and did many versions. Hopefully, what people walk away with at the end is something meaningful to them, because you can interpret the ending in many different ways.

BRENT: You want it to feel earned, and like Todd said, you want to think about it afterwards. You also want it to also be reflective of what the show was, and what the show meant. We tried to basically tie everything up, but make it feel earned and emotional. Hopefully we were able to accomplish that.

The title of the episode is “It Went By So Fast.” Is that the feeling that you are personally having now that the show is almost finished airing?

TODD: Oh, yeah, a for sure. We started this during COVID, but it feels like yesterday. think as you get older, it’s something that everybody says at some point in their life, right? “It went by so fast”…. or “I can’t believe how fast time is going”…. and hopefully, it’s something that people look at and it helps or reminds them to appreciate moments more, and to slow things down a little bit.

BRENT: As you get older, your relationship with time changes a little bit. Like, you’re in high school and you can’t wait for the clock to run out so you can get out of school, and then you’re my age, and I’ve got kids, and all of a sudden they’ve jumped a grade, and it seems like that was in two days,. It’s funny how the older you get, the relationship with time, and your life, and your perspective changes. That was always hanging on the wall at Martha’s house, and we both relate to that being at our stage in life as parents, and we’re pretty sure that as we keep going in life, it’s going to keep hitting us over the head how fast things are going. So we felt like it was apropos as we said goodbye to Lois and Clark, that they would be feeling that as well.

Superman & Lois Season 4 should soon be streaming on Max, but will be well remembered by all.

The penultimate episode of Superman & Lois titled “To Live and Die Again” aired Monday, November 25 on The CW, and as promised, there were some spoilery things we discussed with the episode’s writer/director Jai Jamison — and some great things we didn’t even have time to get you (but maybe our friends at Superman TV Talk covered that ground with Jai, so check them out!)

Part 1 of our interview can be found here; Part 2 can be read below… though be sure you’ve watched the episode before reading!

KRYPTONSITE’S CRAIG BYRNE: How did it come about to bring back Chad Coleman for the penultimate episode?Did you personally feel there was unfinished business with Bruno?

JAI JAMISON: For sure. I wrote and directed [the episode], but it’s still very much a team effort where we broke it in the room. I was coming back into the room after everyone else had broken and written eight episodes up to that point, so I was getting caught up. There were plot lines that were kind of set up that I had to pay off and then tee up for the finale.

One of the things that I knew I wanted, and we were very keen on in the room, was that there would be a Lois Lane investigative plot line. Superman is going to be the fighting the physical battle, and Lois is going to be fighting the battle of public opinion, and like I said, trying to get her mojo back from the last episode. We were looking at different avenues Lois could go down. And it was actually Todd and Brent, because there are certain things you can pitch and certain things you can’t pitch. It’s up to the showrunner to be like, “okay, we can bring this character back.” So, Todd and Brent came in after a few days in the room, and were like, “you know what? What if we brought back Bruno?” and I was like, “yes, please!”

I think there’s a lot of storyline that if we had a few more seasons, I would have gone back to Bruno for, myself. With Chad [Coleman]’s portrayal, I found that character to be so interesting, and layered, and nuanced. I definitely felt like there was unfinished business. So as soon as Todd and Brent pitched the idea, and we made sure we could do it, the rest of the episode just kind of fell into place in terms of how Lois’ investigation leads her back to the beginning, and he then gives her these nuggets of information that eventually drive the wedge between Amanda and Lex. It becomes a key focal point to hoow everything kind of unfolds. That scene was just a joy to film. Bitsie and Chad were an A+ game in that scene. They always bring it.

One of the most powerful scenes in “To Live and Die Again” involved Jordan (Alex Garfin) helping Victoria May who is having a panic attack. Can you talk about how Jordan’s personal experience adds to his own personal superpowers?

That sequence was one that was really special for me. When we were breaking the episode, you know, we spent a lot of time breaking out and beating out the first five acts in terms of things, and then Act Six, it was like, “al; right, well, that’s going to lead into the finale.” We knew it was going to be in Smallville. We knew it was going to be more on the ground, with the boys, with Lois and the townspeople, witnessing the fight in a way that they didn’t in the finale of Season Three. They really just saw the beginning of it, but then it went into space and everything. This was them kind of witnessing it closer to home.

With the boys, their whole arc is learning what they can do. Learning that it’s not focusing on what they can’t do in relation to their father, but what they can do, and so for me, that scene of Jordan is playing into what was for a long time considered weakness, or his, own personal kryptonite, if you will. He’s been through the social anxiety, because he’s had panic attacks, and then in that moment, it’s him stepping into the light as a hero and using that empathy, which is like so much of what this show, to me, is about.

It is hope, understanding, empathy, connection, family. Those are the touchstones; the things that we always talk about, and using that moment to show the type of hero that he was going to become… it was crazy, because it just kind of came to me. We hadn’t beat it out, but just like one morning I was writing the script, and I woke up and the that scene, and then immediately after Jonathan’s save, which was like an homage to Superman catching the car in the in the pilot… it was just like, “oh, here are the boys’ hero moments.”

For me, I discovered while working on this show in Season 3 that I had anxiety. I started having panic attacks. Every time I turned a script in, I would wind up in the hospital. It was this crazy thing. I know it was just this whole thing where the anxiety of working on the script, and doing my dream job, and I’d want it to be so good. I’m working so hard. And then I get to the end, and I turn the turn the script in, and then, my body just shuts down. Finally, my doctor said “you have anxiety.” Todd and Brent so useful and so helpful in terms of being understanding with me, when I had to take days off and go to the doctor, or whatever.

It was that moment [writing the episode] where I was like, “oh, I understand this moment now.” Even directing it, talking to Alex [Garfin] about it, a getting that scene down… I knew both sides of it, and it was just one of those things where I love Superman, and I love people using their powers in different ways.

Part of what I love about Superman is not just that he’s strong and he’s fast and he has all of these abilities, but he also is there to calm people. He’s there to be like “it’s going to be okay. I’m here, I’ve got you,” you know? That, to me, was what that moment was with Jordan and Vicki May. It was kind of the thing where it was the kind of hero that I would have wanted to see. I could imagine myself as Vicki May in that moment, and Jordan became that hero that I would have needed.

Directing Superman versus Lex Luthor… was your inner child excited?

Oh, let me tell you something. This entire episode, there were so many moments that I was literally dancing around set. Having the Superman versus Lex Luthor showdown in the penthouse was a moment. Being able to design Milton’s console system, with the idea that it would look like Brainiac, having the wires and everything that, when I saw what the set dec and art department had done to create that, I was blown away. [Jamison also pointed out that the props department made a “lost city of Kandor” as an Easter egg on Milton’s desk].

There were so many moments in this episode that 15 year old me would have just been losing his mind. I mean, Clark and the boys training together… the inspiration for that was me playing basketball with my dad. There were so many moments that were absolutely that childhood nerd dream come true, definitely starting with the Superman Lex Luthor showdown in the suit. The full Lex… bald, shaven, suited up. It was amazing.

Our thanks to Jai Jamison for taking the time to do this interview. A trailer for next week’s SERIES FINALE can be found here!