Having played the character for ten years on "Smallville," Tom Welling is well acquainted with the character of Superman and the history of DCTV. During an interview with BirthMoviesDeath, he weighed in on the current state of DCTV, including why "Smallville's" timing was key, and how "Smallville" has "nothing in common" with "Supergirl."
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"The success of 'Smallville' is directly correlated to 'The Flash' or 'Arrow' -- that genre that Warner Bros has been able to do," he explained. "I do feel proud that it started with us, but it wasn't just because of us. I think technology and timing -- we were suddenly able to do things in television that were, until then, only available in film because of how expensive they were. So we were lucky to be able to have that timing. A lot of the people who worked on 'Smallville,' it's a lot of the same crew on 'Supernatural,' 'The Flash,' 'Arrow.'"
When it came to "Supergirl," however, he said, "I do enjoy it. It's got a different angle, a more comedic angle, of course. It's telling the story in a different way, and I don't think it's a world that I ever existed in with Clark because they're two different shows. There's really nothing in common, there are no parallels at all. I say that being a fan of what they're doing. I think they're doing a great job."
Fans who hope to see Welling appear in "Supergirl" needn't be worried. "The Flash" has established a DCTV multiverse, and the character will soon crossover into "Supergirl's" alternate world, which means another inter-dimensional crossover is absolutely possible. What's more, Welling needn't reprise his role as Superman; he could always appear in a small cameo role similar to Dean Cain's Jeremiah Danvers.
"Supergirl" airs Mondays at 8 pm EST on CBS. Developed by producers Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler and Andrew Kreisberg, the series stars Melissa Benoist, Calista Flockhart, David Harewood and Chyler Leigh.