In a latest podcast look, Smallville creator Al Gough confirmed that there aren’t any sequels or reboots to the sequence at present in progress, regardless of former affirmation in any other case.

Again in 2021, Smallville star Tom Welling (Clark Kent/Superman) confirmed that an animated sequel of the hit sequence had been in improvement, with a objective to usher in “as many authentic solid members as attainable.”

Since then, although, issues have modified behind the scenes.

The DC Sequel That Might By no means Occur

In an look on the Talk Ville podcast, Smallville creator Al Gough confirmed that the previously confirmed animated sequence is not occurring, explaining that regime adjustments are seemingly a part of why.

When the subject of the animated sequence got here up, Gough defined that “the issue with most initiatives in improvement” in the end comes all the way down to “regime adjustments,” including that Smallville isn’t any completely different.

With that in thoughts, he mentioned that the animated sequence is “off the desk for a bit,” citing the present regime’s prioritization of the Superman reboot:

“I feel the the issue with most initiatives in improvement in any studio or at any community is regime change, and Warner has has clearly gone by means of so much. And I feel the truth that they’re  you realize, within the strategy of of rebooting Superman once more, you realize, sort of, sadly, I feel retains our factor off the desk for a bit.”

Gough did add, although, that this doesn’t imply it’s out of the query without end, simply in the meanwhile, and he thinks “it may come again round.” He additionally reiterated that any future return to Smallville will seemingly be animated, as “animation simply appears like one of the simplest ways to do it:”

“I do suppose we’ll have our time. It may come again round. Animation feels just like the one of the simplest ways to to do it to be trustworthy, simply given the quantity of of time and, you realize, the story — you’ll be able to nonetheless inform tales post-the sequence, however, you realize…”

Warner Bros. ‘Regime Adjustments’ Have Impacted Different DC Tasks Too

A number of DC initiatives have turn out to be sufferer to regime adjustments and shifting priorities at Warner Bros. (now Warner Bros. Discovery), not simply the deliberate Smallville animated sequence.

Arguably, probably the most well-known instance is the cancelled Batgirl film starring Leslie Grace. It was first developed beneath Jason Kilar and Ann Sarnoff, and, regardless of reportedly being near completed, cancelled when David Zaslav took over.

That isn’t to suggest that the regime change is what killed Batgirl, however fairly that with the regime change, the corporate shifted its priorities — be they monetary, or concerning whether or not Batgirl may work as a full, theatrical launch.

Chris McKay shared on the Reel Cinema podcast in 2021 that his Nightwing film had been scrapped due to precedence shifts too.

Moreover, in 2023, Justice League: Warworld producers Butch Lukic and Jim Krieg advised ScreenRant that the regime change when James Gunn and Peter Safran took over marked a halt in improvement of an animated Kingdom Come adaptation.

These should not the one initiatives to see this end result after a regime change, in fact, and it’s greater than seemingly that different elements contributed to their cancellations, however it’s a noteworthy sample to see, particularly now that the Smallville animated sequence has joined the listing.