TV Guide reveals Smallville’s Hawkman
TV Guide has a first look at Hawkman from the upcoming “Smallville” two-hour event on Feb. 5. Online reaction has been mixed, at best, but I’m OK with it. It looks like the comic-book outfit, pretty much, and I’m ready for Clark to go ahead and get himself into a comic-book outfit. So maybe this will motivate him.
- Matt Price
‘Wonder Twins’ on Smallville tonight
Miss the Wonder Twins from 1970s and 80s cartoon SuperFriends? They’re coming, sort of, to live action tonight in “Smallville.” NewsOK’s description of tonight’s Smallville states: Superhero twins land Clark (Tom Welling) in hot water. It sounds a little goofy from the description, but the clip below seems like it could be OK.
Quick thoughts about Smallville 9th season premiere – Savior
A few quick thoughts on the season premiere tonight. Light spoilers ahead.
* I’m OK with the new Matrix-y suit. It’s at least closer to a superhero suit than a red jacket. (Though just get the red and blue suit already!)
* Lois pining over the Blur is great.
* Callum Blue has great presence as Zod.
* Good scenes between Tess and Zod.
* OK, you knew they’d go there, but the kneeling before Zod, pretty sweet.
* Lois and Ollie had a nice scene together as she reminds him that she knows he can be a true hero.
* Clark has a good fight scene with solid FX.
* Touching, difficult scene near the end with Chloe and Clark.
* Brian Austin Green put in a nice, suitably unsettling performance as John Corben (whose destiny was more or less revealed in the trailer for next week).
I like how the premiere set up a premise for the season and put Clark on a timeline. I thought season 8 also started with a bang, but had some slowdowns in the middle and end. We’ll see if season 9 can stay on an upward climb.
Your thoughts?
- Matt Price
Smallville’s 9th season promises to be ’spicy’
WORD BALLOONS
“Smallville” kicks off its ninth season tonight, as the young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) comes ever closer to his eventual destiny as Superman.
Clark gets closer to the traditional “Superman” costume this year as well, wearing a long, black coat and a shirt bearing the “S”-shield. Clark also finds himself drawn closer to Lois Lane (Erica Durance).
“Lois is dealing with being smitten with Superman, and also still kind of finding Clark irritating,” Durance said at the “Smallville” panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego. “It’s going to be really spicy.”
Welling isn’t just starring in “Smallville,” he’s also a producer.
“I enjoy the production side very much,” Welling said at Comic-Con. “For the last few years, my interest in what happens before we get to set has increased. And this year, I play a larger part in that.”
At the close of season eight, Tess Mercer, played by Cassidy Freeman, encountered the Kryptonian villain Zod (Callum Blue).
“The first episode starts with me and Zod,” Freeman said in a recent interview. “I figure out who he is.”
Zod appeared earlier in “Smallville” when he possessed Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), but now Zod appears in Smallville in the flesh. Mercer replaced Lex Luthor as the head of LuthorCorp after Luthor’s disappearance.
“The relationship between Zod and Tess is very loaded,” Freeman said. “She’s kind of all business.”
“Smallville” moves to Friday nights this year, but Freeman said it shouldn’t be a problem for the long-running show.
“We already have a pretty strong fanbase,” she said. “With Friday nights, you might need a big gun to draw people in, and we hope ‘Smallville’ can be that big gun.”
- by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
DVD review: Smallville Season 8
Young Clark Kent moved closer to his eventual fate as Superman in the eighth season of “Smallville.” Clark Kent (Tom Welling) becomes a regular reporter for “The Daily Planet” and begins to have feelings for Lois Lane (Erica Durance).
The eighth season of “Smallville” was the first without show creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, or Clark’s former girlfriend Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk). The show also had to replace Michael Rosenbaum, who had played Lex Luthor on the show since its inception. While the shadow of Lex still looms large over Smallville, two new players held their own as villains of the piece.
The new head of Luthorcorp is Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman), a marine biologist turned hard-hitting executive with ties to Green Arrow’s secret ID, Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley).
Davis Bloome (Sam Witwer) is an EMT who develops a crush on Clark’s best friend, Chloe (Alison Mack). Chloe, however, is engaged to Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore). But the reasons that Bloome is drawn to Chloe may be something more sinister than a simple romantic spark, as Bloome’s character darkens as the season progresses.
The season starts strong and has a great run through episode 11, “Legion,” written by Geoff Johns, who has written some of the best “Superman” comic books of the past decade.
The midseason arc with the return of Lana Lang slows down the Lois-Clark romance and puts a hiccup into the season-long momentum. Some of it is regained in “Eternal,” as Tess figures out Bloome’s secret, but the season doesn’t finish quite as strongly as it began.
- Matthew Price
Cassidy Freeman’s Tess Mercer brings complexities to Smallville Season 8 DVD
The eighth season of the CW series “Smallville” comes to DVD today, featuring Clark Kent’s battle with Doomsday, the character that in the comics, killed Superman.
Season 8 of “Smallville” introduced another villain to the mythos – Tess Mercer, played by Cassidy Freeman. Freeman has an Oklahoma connection – her grandmother lives in Tulsa, and Freeman visits the state frequently.
Freeman provides commentary on episode 7 of “Smallville” Season 8 for the DVD, along with director Mairzee Almas and executive producer Brian Peterson.
It’s Freeman’s first DVD commentary, though she said she often provides commentary during “Smallville” watch parties with her and her brother.
“We watch as much as we can in real time,” Freeman said in a phone interview. While some actors don’t like to watch their performances, Freeman finds it helpful.
“You want to learn from everything you’re doing,” she said, saying that sometimes she’ll notice something new watching a scene again on television.
Freeman had nothing but praise for the work of the “Smallville” cast, which includes Tom Welling (Clark Kent), Erica Durance (Lois Lane) and Justin Hartley (Green Arrow).
“They really did a good job of getting quality people,” Freeman said.
Freeman knew Hartley before joining the cast of “Smallville,” from working on a CW pilot called “Austin Golden Hour.” When that fell through, she moved over to “Smallville,” as Tess. In Season 8, Tess is running Lex Luthor’s company, as Luthor was presumed dead.
Tess Mercer is a new character, though she has some similarities in her name to two former Luthor assistants, Miss Tessmacher from “Superman: The Movie” and Mercy from the comic books and “Superman: The Animated Series.” But Tess’ story is uniquely part of “Smallville.”
“It lends itself to a lot more complexities,” Freeman said. “It’s more fun to play the passionate person. I get to do good and bad things depending on how I feel, on my passion and what drives me. And that’s human, and that’s more interesting than playing what’s already been written.”
- by Matthew Price
From Tuesday’s The Oklahoman
Smallville season 9 trailer at EW
Get your first look at Smallville season 9 (unless you were at the Comic-Con panel, that is) with a trailer hosted at Entertainment Weekly. Smallville debuts Sept. 25 on the CW.
Metallo coming to Smallville – and Wonder Twins?
TV Guide Magazine shares a first look at Metallo, as played by Brian Austin Green, in the upcoming season of “Smallville.” I gotta say, this actually looks pretty cool. I’m a little more worried about the rumor that The Wonder Twins may make an appearance on this season.
Still, I’m excited about the upcoming season, with Zod, something resembling a Superman uniform, and Geoff Johns writing an episode featuring the Justice Society.
For more from “Smallville,” look for a two-part interview with Cassidy Freeman (Tess Mercer) coming up on Nerdage and at NewsOK in the coming weeks, as well as a review of the Season 8 DVD of “Smallville.”
- Matt Price
Quick hits from Smallville panel at Comic-Con
Tom Welling’s first appearance at Comic-Con was a hit, as a very full room cheered for the stars of Smallville at today’s Smallville panel at Comic-Con, moderated by Jeph Loeb. Callum Blue, Cassidy Freeman, Allison Mack, Justin Hartley, Erica Durance joined Welling on the panel, as did Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson.
Here are a few quick notes and impressions from the Smallville panel:
* Clark is finally in some version of a Superman suit, with a black shirt bearing the S-shield and a flowing black overcoat, in preview footage shown at the panel.
* Geoff Johns will write a Justice Society episode.
* Season premiere will touch on the flight issue.
* Green Arrow will be in more episodes this season, as will Lois Lane. Lois will be in 18 episodes.
* Lex is absolutely not dead.
* Tom Welling is directing two episodes this season; Allison Mack will also direct.
* A possible Green Arrow sidekick story is being explored.
* In the first eight episodes this season, we’ll see Green Arrow hit “rock bottom.”
* Smallville is moving to Fridays this fall, debuting Sept. 25. The DVD and Blu-ray of Season 8 hits Aug. 25.
- Matt Price
Smallville’s Tom Welling coming to Comic-Con for first time
Superman is coming to Comic-Con. Smallville star Tom Welling will appear for the first time at Comic-Con International: San Diego on Sunday, July 26.
Co-executive producer Welling will join the entire current cast: Allison Mack, Erica Durance, Cassidy Freeman, Justin Hartley and Callum Blue at the show’s panel session on Sunday at 10:30-11:30 a.m. in Room 6BCF of the San Diego Convention Center.
Showrunners Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson will also be on hand.
The session will feature an exclusive sneak peek at clips from the upcoming ninth season of the show and a Q&A with fans. The panel will be moderated by Jeph Loeb.
- Matt Price
