Tom Welling shares how the DC TV show. One of the superhero properties that came to define a major genre from the 2000s all the way into the 2010s was Smallville, serving as Superman's ultimate origin story show before paving the way for a new era of comic book series. As Smallville focused on how Clark would become Superman, the series finale ended with Welling's version of the DC icon eventually becoming the Man of Steel.

At this year's Comic Con Stockholm, Screen Rant was in attendance for Welling's Sunday , where he looked back on the live-action Superman show and its legacy, including the series finale. When asked about the famous scene in the Smallville series finale where Clark finally does the iconic shirt rip and is suiting up as Superman, Welling revealed that there was initially a very different approach to how the costume was going to get used, as he shared the following:

[In] one of the final [scenes,] Clark opens his shirt and finally leaps off the building. That was written [in] a completely different way. They had written where Clark sees the suit, then cut to him, pulling it on and putting the boots on. Do you guys Kiefer Sutherland's 24? That show just ended, and one of the things they did in that show, it's a satellite image from space, and he's talking to [the] satellite imaging, knowing that Chloe, who he works with, is watching, and he's saying goodbye. He's saying, 'I can't stay, but I gotta go' and I the takeaway from that to me was here's a guy who's gonna go out there, is gonna fight the good fight. We can't go with him, but it allows our imagination to believe he's still out there.

I took that and when we were trying to figure it out in the series, I referenced that the idea that this character is gonna go out there, he's gonna be out there. We can't go with it. And that's how that all came about. There was a bit of a discussion and limitation on what shots we were going to use, it was me, and Greg Beeman, who directed the episode. But the idea was I was going to force them on a crane shot to come into gear. After that, the show was over, and because it was a crane shot, and no, I wouldn't allow them to shoot any other angles of it, because that's what I wanted that and then to go on. So the wardrobe department went, 'So we're only going to see this? Okay.' So they made me a crop top with no sleeves. They didn't want to pay for the whole suit, and I didn't mind, I didn't want to wear a suit! [laughs] So when I go like this [mimics the shirt rip going further,] if I've gone any further, you'd have see my belly button.

What Tom Welling's Superman Suit Story Meant For The Smallville Series Finale

While this became a unique way for one of the Superman live-action TV shows to explore the suit, it's always key to that fans got to see Welling in numerous suits prior to the Smallville ending. When Smallville season 8 kicked off a new era for the show by having Clark more in Metropolis and becoming a reporter at The Daily Planet, that is when the Red-Blue Blur saga began. His famous red-jacket-and-blue-shirt combination and making that it into a prototype suit was just the beginning, though.

Smallville seasons 9 and 10 had Clark donning two different suits with the House of El symbol, though they also still maintained what the show represented by building to the Superman evolution in the series finale. With this in mind, Welling's comments regarding how they went about things in the Smallville ending make the development to the finale all the more interesting. Ultimately, even if the finale suit was just a crop top, it still looked like a convincing full costume was being revealed, and still provided that epic moment as the series faded to black.

Our Take On Tom Welling's Smallville Series Finale Story

Since Welling has spoken before about how the deal for him and Smallville was "No Tights, No Flights," this was still a very creative way to get the suit into the show without the whole thing having to be used for the final shot. Had this never been revealed, the world would likely have continued to think that, at the very least, he wore the shirt part of the costume in the Smallville finale 13 years ago. For anyone who wants to relive or experience Smallville for the first time, the show is available for streaming and on Blu-ray/DVD.

DC Movie Releases

• 

  Superman

  Release Date

  July 11, 2025

  Powered by

  

  Expand Collapse
• 

  Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

  Release Date

  June 26, 2026

  Powered by

  

  Expand Collapse
• 

  The Batman Part II

  Release Date

  October 1, 2027

  Powered by

  

  Expand Collapse

Source: Tom Welling/Comic Con Stockholm