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Justice League (Smallville)

April 10, 2024

The Justice League is a fictional group of superheroes on the television series, Smallville, who were adapted for television by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The Justice League originally included Oliver Queen, Bart Allen, Victor Stone, and Arthur Curry; Clark Kent did not accept a role until three seasons later. As the team continued to appear in the series, new characters were introduced and subsequently joined the team. The original Justice League first appeared in the DC comic book The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960), and consisted of members Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. In Smallville, the team did not make its first official appearance until the season six episode "Justice", although each member had been previously introduced individually on various episodes since season four. In the series, the team never formalized a name for themselves, although the cast and crew officially recognized the team as the "Justice League".

Justice League
Smallville family
From left to right: Bart Allen, Oliver Queen, Clark Kent, Arthur Curry, and Victor Stone in their first team appearance in the season six episode "Justice".
First appearance
  • "Justice"
  • Smallville
  • January 18, 2007
Created by

Series' writers wanted to make sure the characters had similar characteristics to their comic book counterparts, but at the same time, could become a means for Clark Kent to learn about himself. The creative team attempted to stay true to the spirit of the comic in costume design for certain characters, while costumes for other characters were changed dramatically. All of the characters possess superpowers, with the exception of Oliver Queen / Green Arrow, so Entity FX was brought in to digitally create each character's powers using 3-D and 2-D technologies.

In addition to the live-action television series, the Justice League has also been featured in a promotional tie-in with Toyota, through an interactive, online comic book. On an individual level, Oliver Queen received his own tie-in that provided Sprint users with animated episodes depicting Oliver's backstory on their mobile phones. Overall, the reception for the characters has been mixed. Critics have viewed Alan Ritchson's acting ability and the shortened introductory storylines for the team negatively, while the characters of Green Arrow and Black Canary were viewed more positively.

Roles in Smallville edit

Individual storylines edit

Although the Justice League first appeared in season six's "Justice", each member had their own introduction and recurring storylines in the series prior to the formation of the team. The first member to appear on Smallville, other than Clark Kent (Tom Welling), was Bart Allen (Kyle Gallner), who was introduced in the season four episode "Run". In the episode, Bart is the first person Clark discovers to have a superhuman ability—being able to run at supersonic speeds—that was not created from exposure to kryptonite. When Clark and Bart first meet, Bart is a pickpocket who saves Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) from being hit by a truck. Eventually, Clark convinces Bart to give up his life of crime.[1] Arthur Curry (Alan Ritchson), who has the ability to swim at superhuman speeds and create energy blasts through the water, is next to appear in the season five episode "Aqua". Arthur arrives in Smallville to stop an underwater weapon developed by Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), which is killing the surrounding ocean life. Arthur and Clark initially clash on Arthur's tactics; Arthur tries to blow up Lex's lab, while Clark insists that they should simply talk to Lex face-to-face and ask him to stop. Eventually, Arthur and Clark locate and destroy the weapon outright.[2] Season five also introduced Victor Stone (Lee Thompson Young) in the episode "Cyborg". Here, it is revealed that Victor was mortally wounded in a car accident that also took the lives of his family, but Lex's company, LuthorCorp, took Victor's body to a research lab where they experimented on him, ultimately replacing his bone skeleton with a metal one. Clark attempts to provide Victor with a safe haven after Victor escapes from Lex's facility. Clark manages to convince Lex to stop hunting Victor, who eventually leaves Smallville with his girlfriend.[3]

Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley), a billionaire who left Star City to live in Metropolis, arrives in the season six episode "Sneeze" to investigate Lex Luthor.[4] In the episode "Arrow", Oliver begins masquerading around Metropolis as a costumed vigilante, named "Green Arrow" by Lois Lane (Erica Durance), who robs from the rich—only taking objects he knows were already stolen by those wealthy individuals—and gives to the poor. Oliver also begins a romantic relationship with Lois.[5] Eventually, Oliver's vigilante life takes priority, and he and Lois break up when Oliver is forced to leave town to investigate more of Lex's machinations.[6] In season eight's premiere, Oliver moves back to Metropolis, and begins searching for Lex, who has been missing since the season seven finale.[7] Oliver believes he has tracked Lex's whereabouts in the episode "Bride", but he does not find Lex when he arrives; instead, Oliver reveals that he plans to kill Lex when he does find him because of the threat he perceives Lex poses to both Clark and the rest of the world.[8] In the episode "Requiem", Oliver takes controlling interest in LuthorCorp after Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman), Lex's handpicked successor for LuthorCorp, sells him the company. As a result, Lex attempts to kill him. Oliver tracks Lex down and blows-up the medical caravan that Lex was supposedly traveling in.[9]

John Jones (Phil Morris) is also introduced in season six, where he appears in "Labyrinth", guiding Clark out of a fictitious reality that was created by Dr. Hudson, a Phantom Zone criminal attempting to take over Clark's body.[10] It is revealed in the season's finale that he has been working with Lionel Luthor (John Glover), and was once an emissary of Clark's biological father, Jor-El. John explains that he has been watching over Clark since his arrival on Earth, instructed by Jor-El only to interfere if Clark's life was in true danger.[11] In the season seven premiere, John lends assistance to Clark in defeating the last of the Phantom Zone criminals, which turned itself into Clark's doppelganger.[12] In the season eight premiere, John sacrifices his own abilities to save Clark's life.[7] In season eight's "Prey", John informs Clark that he has taken a job as a Metropolis police detective so that he can be around if Clark needs assistance.[13] In season nine's "Absolute Justice", John has his Martian powers restored by Dr. Fate (Brent Stait) and then helps Clark and other members of the Justice Society of America defeat a mutual enemy.[14]

Justice League storylines edit

The Justice League made its first official team appearance in the season six episode "Justice". Here, Clark discovers that Oliver has also met Bart, Arthur, and Victor, and that he has organized them into a team of superheroes focused on stopping those who believe that they are above the law. Oliver reveals that Lex has been conducting experiments on people who developed special abilities thanks to exposure to kryptonite. Clark and Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) work alongside the team to dismantle Lex's local experimental facility, known as Level 33.1, and after destroying the building, Oliver and his team leave Smallville to seek out Lex's other facilities around the world. Oliver asks Clark to become a full-fledged member of the team, but Clark turns Oliver down explaining that he is not ready to do that.[6] In the season seven episode "Siren", Lex puts a bounty on Oliver and his team, convincing the vigilante Dinah Lance (Alaina Huffman), who goes by the name "Black Canary" and has the ability to emit an ultrasonic sound wave with a single scream, that these individuals are terrorists. In the end, Clark proves to Dinah that Lex lied to her, so she decides to join Oliver's team.[15] In the season eight premiere, the Justice League set out to find Clark, who has disappeared following the destruction of his Fortress of Solitude in the previous season's finale. Clark is eventually found, but the true identities of the League's members are compromised, so the team decides to disband until it is safe again for them to work together.[7] In the season eight episode "Hex", Oliver reforms his team and gives Chloe the role of "Watchtower".[16] In that season's finale, it is revealed that the League has been tracking the genetically engineered Kryptonian known as Doomsday. Oliver tries to convince Clark to kill the creature, but Clark refuses and instead informs Dinah and Bart that Oliver murdered Lex, while simultaneously kicking Oliver off of the team. Using subterfuge, Dinah and Bart betray Clark, revealing that they were in agreement with Oliver's plan all along, and capture Doomsday to force Clark into a fight. Their plan backfires, and Doomsday injures all of them during his escape. In the end, Clark defeats the creature by burying him a mile underground, and Oliver and his team apologize for not following Clark's plan from the start. The League leaves Metropolis afterward, feeling responsible for the death of Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore), who was killed after Doomsday escaped. In response, Chloe turns a Metropolis clock tower, which is also the tallest building in the city, into the Watchtower base with the hope that the team will one day return home.[7] The team eventually reforms off screen, and assists Clark in hunting down other Kryptonians who are attempting to take over the Earth.[17] Starting with the ninth episode of the final season, "Patriot", the Justice League are alerted to the arrival of Darkseid, and for the rest of the season they attempt to stop him before he destroys Earth.[18] Subsequent episodes "Dominion" and "Prophecy" also imply that Michael Carter (Booster Gold) and Kara have joined the team.[19][20]

Portrayals edit

 
Justin Hartley was the producers' first choice to portray Oliver Queen on Smallville, after having him cast as the titular character in the Aquaman pilot that was never picked up for broadcast.

The producers wanted to use either Wally West or Barry Allen as the Flash alter ego for the show, but DC Comics would only approve the use of Bart Allen. In DC Comics, Bart typically goes by the codename of "Impulse", but did have a short series in 2006 where he took over the role of Flash.[21] Kyle Gallner learned through his agent about a superhero role being called for on Smallville, and when he learned that it was going to be Impulse, he convinced himself that he was going to win the role. Gallner went in for two auditions, but was so disappointed with his performance during the second audition that he believed he had failed to get the role. His fear was unfounded when the producers offered him the part.[22]

After being cast as Arthur Curry, a character who had previously never been officially portrayed in any live-action form, Alan Ritchson did some research on his character when he discovered that Aquaman had a "serious...fan base". Ritchson wanted to live up to the expectations he felt fans of the character would have.[23] Like Gallner, Ritchson did not expect to be a part of the show again. After season five, there was an attempt to launch an Aquaman television series, which ultimately was never picked up. Ritchson relished the opportunity to return when he was called in to appear in the episode that would feature the first official appearance of the Justice League.[24]

Until season five's "Cyborg", the DC Comics superheroes who had paid Clark a visit on the show were all members of the Justice League of America, but Gough and Miller felt that Victor Stone shared a "relatable dilemma" with Clark—the fact that both Victor and Clark's abilities get in the way of their romantic relationships with the women they love—and was someone the developers felt was just an interesting character. Victor normally goes by the alias "Cyborg" and is a member of the Teen Titans in the comics. Casting Lee Thompson Young was something the producers had always wanted to do, even before they had decided to bring in Cyborg.[25] The actor revealed that his first contact with the Cyborg character came not from the comics, but from the Teen Titans animated television series. According to Young, he was fortunate that this version of Victor Stone was Smallville's spin on the character, and as such, the majority of the character's background was in the script. While preparing, Young expressed his pleasure in the fact that the producers decided to keep Victor's robotic parts internal, as opposed to the comic version, where half of Cyborg's visible body is covered in metal.[26]

According to Gough, Justin Hartley was the producers' first choice to play the role of Oliver Queen, and his alter ego Green Arrow. Oliver was designed to provide an alternative view for what it means to be a hero. At the same time, the producers wanted a character that could impact the lives of both Clark and Lois.[27] The actor is also the first to portray Oliver Queen/Green Arrow in any live-action media.[28] Hartley believed that it was the season six episode "Reunion" that really helped him to understand his character. In the episode, it is revealed that Oliver was "a jerk to Lex" when the two were at school together, and after another kid falls into a coma because of Oliver and Lex's actions, Oliver decides to start a new path for himself. According to Hartley, this allowed the actor to "justify why someone would put their life in danger every night and have such strong feelings about going out and being this social advocate".[29] Hartley was a recurring guest in the sixth and seventh seasons, but became a series regular in season eight.[30]

Alaina Huffman auditioned for Smallville without being aware of which role was being cast, and was offered the part of Dinah Lance/Black Canary. When the producers informed her of how major this character is to the DC mythology, Huffman used various comic books and online sources to learn more about her character.[31] Approached by the producers, Phil Morris auditioned twice for the role of John Jones/Martian Manhunter, and then waited three weeks before receiving confirmation of the role.[32] Morris relished the new design of the character, stepping away from the cape and tights, and going with a more contemporary look. He classified John Jones as Jor-El's "tool, security force, his guardian, and his protector". The actor has stated that he would like his character to lead the future Justice League on the show, as he sees John Jones as a natural leader.[33]

Character development edit

Characteristics edit

When Steven S. DeKnight was writing the episode "Run" for the first official appearance of Bart Allen, he knew he had to give the character certain characteristics that embodied his comic book counterpart. DeKnight knew Bart had to be faster than Clark, because in the comic, that is one advantage Flash has over Superman. DeKnight also featured Bart as a "smart-ass", after being inspired by the sarcastic Flash that appears in the animated television series, Justice League. DeKnight's belief is that Bart enjoys his powers, and would not exhibit the more "somber or serious" characteristics of other character.[21] As Gallner pointed out, Bart accepts who he is, and what he can do, and he even abuses his gifts somewhat. The difference between him and Clark is that Bart is not afraid to show the world what he can do. Gallner also suggested that in his character's initial appearance, Bart is living in a "confused" state, because he has developed these extraordinary powers, his parents do not accept him, and he ends up turning to thievery just to take care of himself.[22]

"He accepts [his powers]. He uses them. He may even abuse them a little bit. But he's not ashamed of who he is. He's not scared of being who he is, and he kind of lets the world know that he's there".
— Kyle Gallner on Bart's personality[22]

Ritchson described Arthur Curry as someone who will "do anything to save what he loves". The actor goes on to say that Arthur is "passionate about nature, about the earth, and about the seas", and is not afraid to use his abilities to save those things that are dear to him. When comparing his character to Clark, Ritchson stated that Arthur is more confident in his abilities, and already knows what he can do and what his path is in life. Another big difference the actor pointed out is that unlike Clark, Arthur is willing to sacrifice people and things if it means preserving the greater good.[23] When he first appears, one of Victor Stone's key characteristics is that both he and Clark can relate to the fact that they feel their abilities inhibit them from having a true relationship with the women they love. The writers tried to create parallels between the characters to emphasize this more, like Victor's fear of telling his girlfriend the truth about what LuthorCorp did to his body, and Clark's fear of Lana Lang discovering he is an alien.[25] Writer Tracy Bellomo characterized Oliver as a guy that does not take himself very seriously, and enjoys making fun of people that try to take him that way. Bellomo believed that this is one of the reasons that Oliver is attracted to Lois, with the other being that Lois provides a challenge for him. Oliver's relationship with Clark is designed to "broaden Clark's rather limited horizons", and to teach Clark that a world exists beyond Smallville.[27]

Costumes edit

 
When coming up with costumes for Smallville's Justice League, designer Caroline Cranstoun researched various comic book designs before crafting her own. With Black Canary, Cranstoun chose a design that held a Lara Croft/Tank Girl feel.[31]

In the episode "Wither", Oliver and Lois attend a costumed ball, where Oliver dresses up as Robin Hood. The designers decided to model Oliver's costume after the comic book character Green Arrow.[34] Costume designer Caroline Cranstoun designed Oliver's official Green Arrow costume in conjunction with illustrator Andy Poon. To hide his face, Green Arrow typically wears a mask over his eyes, but Cranstoun and Keith Christensen, of Ocean Drive Leather, opted to use a hood and a pair of dark sunglasses to hide Oliver's face. Cranstoun revealed that Miles Millar was the one who came up with the hood idea. The costume is also made entirely out of leather, as the creative team wanted to keep away from using tights. Hartley was very impressed with the costume, but confessed that it was uncomfortable to wear because it had layers of leather, and he had to wear boots with four-inch lifts.[35]

After creating Oliver's Green Arrow costume, Cranstoun had the task of crafting updated costume looks for Bart, Arthur, and Victor for the "Justice" episode. Cranstoun explained that even though Victor does not have any metal on his physical body like his comic book counterpart, she wanted to include a metallic look to his costume. The designer tried to give Victor a more "futuristic" feel, along with "a bit of Transformer-y" essence, by including angular pieces on his vest and coloring them silver, black, and purple. For Bart, the costume designers tried to take what was used in his season four appearance and move that to the next level. In season four, Bart wore a red hoodie with yellow cargo pants, which were used to reflect his teenage identity. With his Justice League appearance, they tried to give the character an appearance that seemed faster. His yellow cargo pants were replaced with red jeans, and his red hoodie was updated to incorporate more of a lightning bolt logo throughout the piece.[24]

Arthur's costume was the easiest to create, as the color scheme mirrored his comic book counterpart, and was constructed to give a "wetsuit look". The costume was also designed to be more form-fitting, to complement Ritchson's physique. Victor and Arthur's tops were also hoodie variations.[24] When designing Dinah Lance's Black Canary costume, certain aspects of the comic book character were kept, while others changed entirely. For instance, the character retains her classic fishnet stockings, but the external, black mask the character wears is swapped for a painted mask.[36] Cranstoun researched the various versions of Black Canary's costume, looking through the 1940s and 50s, to try to come up with the right version for the show. Cranstoun explained that she primarily came across two versions. One version reminded the designer of a Playboy Bunny, with a "curvy, corseted, strapless thing that was not at all action-friendly". The other was more reminiscent of Lara Croft and Tank Girl, which is the route Cranstoun took. What Cranstoun created was a "zipped, sleeveless body suit with a boot that was really flat and practical". The designer also kept the yellow accents the comic version had, as well as the long gloves. The filming crew did test shots with various masks for the character, including a leather mask reminiscent of the comic book character's look, before going with the painted variation.[31]

Hartley was quick to point out that before "Justice", the series did not focus on "the costumes and the capes, the flying and the superhero stuff", because they had their "no flights, no tights" rule in effect. That changed with "Justice", and Hartley suggested that the actors really had to commit themselves to their roles while wearing the costumes, "otherwise you look like a standup comedian who doesn't like his jokes very much". Young said that he was one of the luckiest out of the group, because he only had to wear a silver vest and regular pants, unlike Ritchson, who had to put on a "onesie Speedo". Ritchson felt that he was distracted by what he was wearing it, but it was best to try to take mind off of the subject. Hartley, Ritchson, and Young stated that they felt sorry for Gallner for having to wear a costume that they believed "sucked". The group described Gallner's costume as something his mom might have made with "some cotton fabric and a Magic Marker".[37]

Creating superpowers edit

In order to illustrate the special abilities of the Justice League members, special effects company Entity FX had to come in and digitally create the powers for each character. Senior Producer at Entity FX, Trent Smith, explained that they wanted to give Bart's super speed a "more current" look, so they employed 3D techniques in conjunction with the 2D graphics from season four to create a "hybrid" image for the screen. Smith explained that the 3D technology allowed the team to "[choose] a path for [Bart] that he may not be able to achieve in the 2D composite world". Entity FX used Autodesk Maya and Adobe After Effects to create the 3D stream that follows Bart when he is running at super speed.[38]

For Victor, Entity FX tried to create digital imagery of the character's inner workings to give the audience the chance to see how his robotic side operates. For instance, Entity FX visually walked the audience through the process of how Victor's CPU downloads the schematics and diagrams to Lex's Level 33.1 facility, as well as disarming the security. Creating abilities for Arthur posed their own challenges, as there were not a lot of opportunities to put the character in the water when he was in the Mid-West. Using the technology they had when Arthur first came to Smallville, as well as the effects used in the unaired pilot for Aquaman, Entity FX was able to digitally create both Arthur and the water he swims in for the character's arrival shot at Level 33.1. When creating Arthur's super swimming speed, the team attempted to give the imagery a look similar to that of a torpedo gliding through the water. The team battled back and forth on how to illustrate Arthur's movements, deciding between having the character leave a trail of bubbles like a torpedo, or "maneuvering around the water and...actually traveling with the bubbles".[38]

Reception edit

When judging individual appearances, DVD Verdict's Jennifer Malkowski felt that Alan Ritchson's performance as Arthur Curry in "Aqua" was rather "wooden",[39] while Filip Vuckevic, of IGN, felt that the introductions for Victor Stone and Arthur Curry were simply wasted, as the characters are not "given anything to do" in the episodes.[40] Commenting on the introduction of Oliver Queen's Green Arrow persona in the season six episode "Arrow", IGN's Chris Carabott felt that the series took its time developing a character that fit the style of the show. Carabott acknowledged that Green Arrow's costume, though not exactly like in the comics, respects the spirit of the character in its design; the gadgets he uses make it feel like the producers are taking a page out of the Justice League Unlimited book, which makes for "quality entertainment".[41]

Carabott felt that Phil Morris did well as John Jones/Martian Manhunter but lacked a proper introduction: "Phil Morris does a respectable job of portraying John Jones in the few scenes we see him in. He lacks the screen presence of someone like Carl Lumbly, who voiced the character on Justice League, but Morris holds his own and delivers the lines in that strong, straight forward tone that is signature Manhunter".[42] Alan Blair, editor of Airlock Alpha, felt that Smallville's approach to Black Canary succeeded where the television series Birds of Prey failed. First, Smallville dropped the idea of "meta-humans", which Blair believed is what doomed Birds of Prey, managed to make Black Canary look more like her comic book counterpart, and also give her Canary Cry "some level of credibility".[43] Carabott acknowledged that Smallville created a "fairly good depiction" of Black Canary, but disagreed with certain aesthetical choices. First, Carabott did not appreciate the removal of Black Canary's long, blonde hair, or the addition of make-up around the eyes that gave the character the look of "Pris from Blade Runner". Carabott stated that Huffman's acting came off as "a little over-the-top at times", but overall he felt that she was the right choice for Smallville.[44]

Carabott also had his own feelings about the first official "Justice League" appearance in season six's "Justice". The writer suggested that the first live-action appearance of the League since the failed pilot back in the 1990s deserved more than just a single episode. Carabott stated that at least two or three episodes would have been needed to properly tell the narrative of their introduction.[45] Instead, he felt like the character introductions were rushed, even though they had all appeared on the series prior to season six.[46] "Justice" would go on to earn the highest ratings of any episode in season six, with 5.26 million viewers.[47]

Merchandise edit

Following the end of the sixth season, DC Direct released new action figures, modeled after Smallville's Justice League as they appeared in the season six episode "Justice". The toys featured detailed likenesses of Welling, Hartley, Ritchson, Gallner, and Young.[48]

Other media appearances edit

Spin-offs edit

At various points throughout the series, the studio discussed developing individual shows for Bart, Oliver, Arthur, and the entire Justice League. The topic of a television series based on the Flash came underway a year before the character made his first appearance on Smallville. According to writer Steven S. DeKnight, there were creative differences over how a Flash television series should be handled, given the previous attempt at translating the character to the small screen in 1990. DeKnight explained that the studio wanted to create a Flash who was a "time-traveling college student from Gotham City". As a result, the series never materialized, and the character was ultimately brought to Smallville.[21]

Following the appearance of Arthur Curry, which became one of the highest-rated episodes of that season, Smallville developers Al Gough and Miles Millar began work on an Aquaman pilot for The WB Television Network, with Justin Hartley as Arthur Curry.[49] As work progressed on season five's "Aqua", the character was recognized to have potential for his own series.[49] The season five episode was never meant to be a backdoor pilot for an Aquaman television spin-off,[50] so Alan Ritchson was never considered for the role.[49] Gough stated in a November 2005 interview that the series would have put a different spin on the Aquaman mythology.[49] Although Gough did not look at the new series as a true spin-off, he did suggest an interest in doing a crossover with Smallville.[51] Aquaman is currently the only series to go into production, though it was ultimately not picked up by The CW network, which had formed from a merger between The WB and UPN during the production of the pilot.[52][53][54]

During the sixth season, there was a talk about creating a new series based on the Green Arrow/Oliver Queen character. Hartley refused to talk about the possibility of a spin-off during the filming of the sixth season out of respect for his role on Smallville. The actor felt he should respect what Smallville had accomplished in five seasons, and not "steal the spotlight" by thinking he was better than he was just because there was "talk" of a spin-off after only two appearances on the show. According to Hartley, "talking" was as far as the spin-off ever got.[55] According to Gough, the Green Arrow spin-off would have introduced the idea of Oliver acting in more of a "Professor X" role, where he takes in people with superpowers who have no place to go and trains them. The series would have used characters that would be more easily cleared by the film division at Warner Bros.[24] As DeKnight clarified, the series would have featured the introduction of new characters—some from the Teen Titans and others from the DC Comics universe—as well as going into more depth for the background story of its primary characters, like Bart, Victor, and Arthur. As with the other potential series, this one never came to fruition.[21]

Mobile phone/online tie-ins edit

Although the team's prominent appearances are on the television series, there have been additional media appearances based around marketing tie-ins. In early 2007, Oliver Queen received a personal treatment with a promotional tie-in with Sprint, titled Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles. The series looked at the origins of Oliver's alternate identity.[56] On April 19, a tie-in with Toyota promoting their new Yaris featured an online comic strip as interstitial programs during new episodes of Smallville—titled Smallville Legends: Justice & Doom.[57] The interactive comic was based on the episode "Justice", and picks up after the events of that episode, following Oliver, Bart, Victor and Arthur, as they seek to destroy all of LuthorCorp's secret experimental labs.[58] The team eventually uncovers a prototype soldier LuthorCorp is working on, that combines the superpowers of various kryptonite enhanced individuals and places them into a single soldier.[59] The online comic then directly ties-into the television series when Oliver and his team, off-screen, contact Clark in the episode "Prototype", and tell him how to defeat one of these soldiers.[60] The online series allowed viewers to investigate alongside the fictional team in an effort to win prizes. Stephan Nilson wrote all five episodes, while working with a team of artists for the illustrations. The plot for each comic episode would be given to Nilson at the same time the production crew for Smallville was filming their current television episode. Artist Steve Scott would draw comic book panels, which would be sent to a group called Motherland. That group would review the drawings and tell Scott which images to draw on a separate overlay. This allowed for multiple objects to be moved in and out of the same frame.[58] Before and after the first appearance of the League on Smallville, there were talks among studio heads about spinning off individual characters, or the entire team, into their own television shows, but nothing came to fruition. Smallville is the first series—television or film—to feature live-action portrayals of Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Cyborg.

Comic books edit

In 2012, the Smallville series was continued through the comic book medium with Smallville: Season 11. Written by Bryan Q. Miller, who also wrote for the television series, the first issues feature Chloe Sullivan referencing that they're trying to establish an info hub, linked the Watchtower, in every city inhabited by a member of the organization.[61] In the second issue, Lex Luthor discovers that Queen Industries is building a facility on the far side of Earth's moon as a base for the team, and its construction is under John Jones' supervision. Despite seemingly having died after her encounter with Lex Luthor, the team's liaison is Tess Mercer, whose consciousness is revealed to be bonded to her half-brother's mind.[62][63] Luthor sees this as an opportunity to learn the heroes' secrets before removing Tess from his mind and creates measures to prevent them from finding out his situations with Tess.[64] Despite his efforts, Tess still manage to send her message to the team of her predicaments with Lex, and they extract her consciousness from him and uploaded it to the Watchtower computer system as a temporary home for her mind.[65]

In issue five, the team begins to investigate the warning given by a parallel universe version of Chloe Sullivan about a "Crisis". Here is the first appearance of Bruce Wayne, who is secretly the vigilante Batman of Gotham City, whose father Thomas Wayne was invited to join the secret society, Veritas, by Lionel Luthor. Batman, along with his partner, Nightwing (Barbara Gordon), arrive to Metropolis in search of his parents' killer Joe Chill, who works as a contact for Intergang.[66]

Bart Allen returns in the ninth issue, donning a new costume and explores the source of his powers: the Speed Force, as well as encountering the Black Flash from it while battling a bunch of super-intelligent gorillas in Paris. Bart once again challenges Clark to a race, this time with the latter in flight.[67] In the eleventh issue, it reveals that Bart got his powers after the JSA member Jay Garrick refused to run, forcing the Speed Force's sentience to create a new speedster to take his place.[68] In a story arc chronologically parallel to Clark and Bart's, while Batman and Nightwing chase members of the criminal gang in Gotham, the Mutants, the latter is attacked by a White Martian and left injured. John Jones appears and offers his assistance to Bruce on investigating the attack. Jones also adapts the superhero identity "Martian Manhunter". In addition, the new Watchtower outpost on the Moon is shown being built, and that S.T.A.R. Labs is helping Queen Industries in its construction, as well as using Emil Hamilton's Hazardous Environmental Drones as crew. It also reveals that Batman has joined the team.[69]

During the series run, Bryan Q. Miller revealed that there is no formal Justice League. Rather there is Watchtower, which networks agents all over the world.[70] This is reflected in the series, where the organization is regularly identified as the "Watchtower Network".[67][71][72][73] The conclusion of the miniseries Smallville: Continuity sees the formation of the formal Justice League. The team is given a roster of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado (Tess Mercer).[74]

References edit

  1. ^ Steven S. DeKnight (writer) & David Barrett (director) (October 20, 2004). "Run". Smallville. Season 4. Episode 5. The WB Television Network.
  2. ^ Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer (writers) & Paul Shapiro (director) (October 20, 2005). "Aqua". Smallville. Season 5. Episode 4. The WB.
  3. ^ Caroline Dries (writer) & Glen Winter (director) (February 16, 2006). "Cyborg". Smallville. Season 5. Episode 15. The WB.
  4. ^ Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer (writers) & Paul Shapiro (director) (October 6, 2006). "Sneeze". Smallville. Season 6. Episode 2. The WB.
  5. ^ Kelly Souders, Brian Peterson (writers) & Michael Rohl (director) (October 19, 2006). "Arrow". Smallville. Season 6. Episode 4. The WB.
  6. ^ a b Steven S. DeKnight (writer & director) (January 18, 2007). "Justice". Smallville. Season 6. Episode 11. The CW Television Network.
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April 10, 2024
justice, league, smallville, justice, league, fictional, group, superheroes, television, series, smallville, were, adapted, television, alfred, gough, miles, millar, justice, league, originally, included, oliver, queen, bart, allen, victor, stone, arthur, curr. The Justice League is a fictional group of superheroes on the television series Smallville who were adapted for television by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar The Justice League originally included Oliver Queen Bart Allen Victor Stone and Arthur Curry Clark Kent did not accept a role until three seasons later As the team continued to appear in the series new characters were introduced and subsequently joined the team The original Justice League first appeared in the DC comic book The Brave and the Bold 28 1960 and consisted of members Superman Batman Wonder Woman Flash Green Lantern Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter In Smallville the team did not make its first official appearance until the season six episode Justice although each member had been previously introduced individually on various episodes since season four In the series the team never formalized a name for themselves although the cast and crew officially recognized the team as the Justice League Justice LeagueSmallville familyFrom left to right Bart Allen Oliver Queen Clark Kent Arthur Curry and Victor Stone in their first team appearance in the season six episode Justice First appearance Justice SmallvilleJanuary 18 2007Created byAlfred Gough Miles MillarFamily membersClark Kent Superman Bart Allen Impulse Arthur Curry Aquaman Victor Stone Cyborg Oliver Queen Green Arrow Dinah Lance Black Canary Chloe Sullivan J onn J onzz Martian Manhunter Carter Hall Hawkman Courtney Whitmore Stargirl Tess Mercer Kara Zor El Supergirl Michael Jon Carter Booster Gold Diana Prince Wonder Woman Bruce Wayne Batman John Stewart Green LanternSeries writers wanted to make sure the characters had similar characteristics to their comic book counterparts but at the same time could become a means for Clark Kent to learn about himself The creative team attempted to stay true to the spirit of the comic in costume design for certain characters while costumes for other characters were changed dramatically All of the characters possess superpowers with the exception of Oliver Queen Green Arrow so Entity FX was brought in to digitally create each character s powers using 3 D and 2 D technologies In addition to the live action television series the Justice League has also been featured in a promotional tie in with Toyota through an interactive online comic book On an individual level Oliver Queen received his own tie in that provided Sprint users with animated episodes depicting Oliver s backstory on their mobile phones Overall the reception for the characters has been mixed Critics have viewed Alan Ritchson s acting ability and the shortened introductory storylines for the team negatively while the characters of Green Arrow and Black Canary were viewed more positively Contents 1 Roles in Smallville 1 1 Individual storylines 1 2 Justice League storylines 2 Portrayals 3 Character development 3 1 Characteristics 3 2 Costumes 3 3 Creating superpowers 4 Reception 5 Merchandise 6 Other media appearances 6 1 Spin offs 6 2 Mobile phone online tie ins 6 3 Comic books 7 ReferencesRoles in Smallville editIndividual storylines edit Although the Justice League first appeared in season six s Justice each member had their own introduction and recurring storylines in the series prior to the formation of the team The first member to appear on Smallville other than Clark Kent Tom Welling was Bart Allen Kyle Gallner who was introduced in the season four episode Run In the episode Bart is the first person Clark discovers to have a superhuman ability being able to run at supersonic speeds that was not created from exposure to kryptonite When Clark and Bart first meet Bart is a pickpocket who saves Jonathan Kent John Schneider from being hit by a truck Eventually Clark convinces Bart to give up his life of crime 1 Arthur Curry Alan Ritchson who has the ability to swim at superhuman speeds and create energy blasts through the water is next to appear in the season five episode Aqua Arthur arrives in Smallville to stop an underwater weapon developed by Lex Luthor Michael Rosenbaum which is killing the surrounding ocean life Arthur and Clark initially clash on Arthur s tactics Arthur tries to blow up Lex s lab while Clark insists that they should simply talk to Lex face to face and ask him to stop Eventually Arthur and Clark locate and destroy the weapon outright 2 Season five also introduced Victor Stone Lee Thompson Young in the episode Cyborg Here it is revealed that Victor was mortally wounded in a car accident that also took the lives of his family but Lex s company LuthorCorp took Victor s body to a research lab where they experimented on him ultimately replacing his bone skeleton with a metal one Clark attempts to provide Victor with a safe haven after Victor escapes from Lex s facility Clark manages to convince Lex to stop hunting Victor who eventually leaves Smallville with his girlfriend 3 Oliver Queen Justin Hartley a billionaire who left Star City to live in Metropolis arrives in the season six episode Sneeze to investigate Lex Luthor 4 In the episode Arrow Oliver begins masquerading around Metropolis as a costumed vigilante named Green Arrow by Lois Lane Erica Durance who robs from the rich only taking objects he knows were already stolen by those wealthy individuals and gives to the poor Oliver also begins a romantic relationship with Lois 5 Eventually Oliver s vigilante life takes priority and he and Lois break up when Oliver is forced to leave town to investigate more of Lex s machinations 6 In season eight s premiere Oliver moves back to Metropolis and begins searching for Lex who has been missing since the season seven finale 7 Oliver believes he has tracked Lex s whereabouts in the episode Bride but he does not find Lex when he arrives instead Oliver reveals that he plans to kill Lex when he does find him because of the threat he perceives Lex poses to both Clark and the rest of the world 8 In the episode Requiem Oliver takes controlling interest in LuthorCorp after Tess Mercer Cassidy Freeman Lex s handpicked successor for LuthorCorp sells him the company As a result Lex attempts to kill him Oliver tracks Lex down and blows up the medical caravan that Lex was supposedly traveling in 9 John Jones Phil Morris is also introduced in season six where he appears in Labyrinth guiding Clark out of a fictitious reality that was created by Dr Hudson a Phantom Zone criminal attempting to take over Clark s body 10 It is revealed in the season s finale that he has been working with Lionel Luthor John Glover and was once an emissary of Clark s biological father Jor El John explains that he has been watching over Clark since his arrival on Earth instructed by Jor El only to interfere if Clark s life was in true danger 11 In the season seven premiere John lends assistance to Clark in defeating the last of the Phantom Zone criminals which turned itself into Clark s doppelganger 12 In the season eight premiere John sacrifices his own abilities to save Clark s life 7 In season eight s Prey John informs Clark that he has taken a job as a Metropolis police detective so that he can be around if Clark needs assistance 13 In season nine s Absolute Justice John has his Martian powers restored by Dr Fate Brent Stait and then helps Clark and other members of the Justice Society of America defeat a mutual enemy 14 Justice League storylines edit The Justice League made its first official team appearance in the season six episode Justice Here Clark discovers that Oliver has also met Bart Arthur and Victor and that he has organized them into a team of superheroes focused on stopping those who believe that they are above the law Oliver reveals that Lex has been conducting experiments on people who developed special abilities thanks to exposure to kryptonite Clark and Chloe Sullivan Allison Mack work alongside the team to dismantle Lex s local experimental facility known as Level 33 1 and after destroying the building Oliver and his team leave Smallville to seek out Lex s other facilities around the world Oliver asks Clark to become a full fledged member of the team but Clark turns Oliver down explaining that he is not ready to do that 6 In the season seven episode Siren Lex puts a bounty on Oliver and his team convincing the vigilante Dinah Lance Alaina Huffman who goes by the name Black Canary and has the ability to emit an ultrasonic sound wave with a single scream that these individuals are terrorists In the end Clark proves to Dinah that Lex lied to her so she decides to join Oliver s team 15 In the season eight premiere the Justice League set out to find Clark who has disappeared following the destruction of his Fortress of Solitude in the previous season s finale Clark is eventually found but the true identities of the League s members are compromised so the team decides to disband until it is safe again for them to work together 7 In the season eight episode Hex Oliver reforms his team and gives Chloe the role of Watchtower 16 In that season s finale it is revealed that the League has been tracking the genetically engineered Kryptonian known as Doomsday Oliver tries to convince Clark to kill the creature but Clark refuses and instead informs Dinah and Bart that Oliver murdered Lex while simultaneously kicking Oliver off of the team Using subterfuge Dinah and Bart betray Clark revealing that they were in agreement with Oliver s plan all along and capture Doomsday to force Clark into a fight Their plan backfires and Doomsday injures all of them during his escape In the end Clark defeats the creature by burying him a mile underground and Oliver and his team apologize for not following Clark s plan from the start The League leaves Metropolis afterward feeling responsible for the death of Jimmy Olsen Aaron Ashmore who was killed after Doomsday escaped In response Chloe turns a Metropolis clock tower which is also the tallest building in the city into the Watchtower base with the hope that the team will one day return home 7 The team eventually reforms off screen and assists Clark in hunting down other Kryptonians who are attempting to take over the Earth 17 Starting with the ninth episode of the final season Patriot the Justice League are alerted to the arrival of Darkseid and for the rest of the season they attempt to stop him before he destroys Earth 18 Subsequent episodes Dominion and Prophecy also imply that Michael Carter Booster Gold and Kara have joined the team 19 20 Portrayals edit nbsp Justin Hartley was the producers first choice to portray Oliver Queen on Smallville after having him cast as the titular character in the Aquaman pilot that was never picked up for broadcast The producers wanted to use either Wally West or Barry Allen as the Flash alter ego for the show but DC Comics would only approve the use of Bart Allen In DC Comics Bart typically goes by the codename of Impulse but did have a short series in 2006 where he took over the role of Flash 21 Kyle Gallner learned through his agent about a superhero role being called for on Smallville and when he learned that it was going to be Impulse he convinced himself that he was going to win the role Gallner went in for two auditions but was so disappointed with his performance during the second audition that he believed he had failed to get the role His fear was unfounded when the producers offered him the part 22 After being cast as Arthur Curry a character who had previously never been officially portrayed in any live action form Alan Ritchson did some research on his character when he discovered that Aquaman had a serious fan base Ritchson wanted to live up to the expectations he felt fans of the character would have 23 Like Gallner Ritchson did not expect to be a part of the show again After season five there was an attempt to launch an Aquaman television series which ultimately was never picked up Ritchson relished the opportunity to return when he was called in to appear in the episode that would feature the first official appearance of the Justice League 24 Until season five s Cyborg the DC Comics superheroes who had paid Clark a visit on the show were all members of the Justice League of America but Gough and Miller felt that Victor Stone shared a relatable dilemma with Clark the fact that both Victor and Clark s abilities get in the way of their romantic relationships with the women they love and was someone the developers felt was just an interesting character Victor normally goes by the alias Cyborg and is a member of the Teen Titans in the comics Casting Lee Thompson Young was something the producers had always wanted to do even before they had decided to bring in Cyborg 25 The actor revealed that his first contact with the Cyborg character came not from the comics but from the Teen Titans animated television series According to Young he was fortunate that this version of Victor Stone was Smallville s spin on the character and as such the majority of the character s background was in the script While preparing Young expressed his pleasure in the fact that the producers decided to keep Victor s robotic parts internal as opposed to the comic version where half of Cyborg s visible body is covered in metal 26 According to Gough Justin Hartley was the producers first choice to play the role of Oliver Queen and his alter ego Green Arrow Oliver was designed to provide an alternative view for what it means to be a hero At the same time the producers wanted a character that could impact the lives of both Clark and Lois 27 The actor is also the first to portray Oliver Queen Green Arrow in any live action media 28 Hartley believed that it was the season six episode Reunion that really helped him to understand his character In the episode it is revealed that Oliver was a jerk to Lex when the two were at school together and after another kid falls into a coma because of Oliver and Lex s actions Oliver decides to start a new path for himself According to Hartley this allowed the actor to justify why someone would put their life in danger every night and have such strong feelings about going out and being this social advocate 29 Hartley was a recurring guest in the sixth and seventh seasons but became a series regular in season eight 30 Alaina Huffman auditioned for Smallville without being aware of which role was being cast and was offered the part of Dinah Lance Black Canary When the producers informed her of how major this character is to the DC mythology Huffman used various comic books and online sources to learn more about her character 31 Approached by the producers Phil Morris auditioned twice for the role of John Jones Martian Manhunter and then waited three weeks before receiving confirmation of the role 32 Morris relished the new design of the character stepping away from the cape and tights and going with a more contemporary look He classified John Jones as Jor El s tool security force his guardian and his protector The actor has stated that he would like his character to lead the future Justice League on the show as he sees John Jones as a natural leader 33 Character development editCharacteristics edit When Steven S DeKnight was writing the episode Run for the first official appearance of Bart Allen he knew he had to give the character certain characteristics that embodied his comic book counterpart DeKnight knew Bart had to be faster than Clark because in the comic that is one advantage Flash has over Superman DeKnight also featured Bart as a smart ass after being inspired by the sarcastic Flash that appears in the animated television series Justice League DeKnight s belief is that Bart enjoys his powers and would not exhibit the more somber or serious characteristics of other character 21 As Gallner pointed out Bart accepts who he is and what he can do and he even abuses his gifts somewhat The difference between him and Clark is that Bart is not afraid to show the world what he can do Gallner also suggested that in his character s initial appearance Bart is living in a confused state because he has developed these extraordinary powers his parents do not accept him and he ends up turning to thievery just to take care of himself 22 He accepts his powers He uses them He may even abuse them a little bit But he s not ashamed of who he is He s not scared of being who he is and he kind of lets the world know that he s there Kyle Gallner on Bart s personality 22 Ritchson described Arthur Curry as someone who will do anything to save what he loves The actor goes on to say that Arthur is passionate about nature about the earth and about the seas and is not afraid to use his abilities to save those things that are dear to him When comparing his character to Clark Ritchson stated that Arthur is more confident in his abilities and already knows what he can do and what his path is in life Another big difference the actor pointed out is that unlike Clark Arthur is willing to sacrifice people and things if it means preserving the greater good 23 When he first appears one of Victor Stone s key characteristics is that both he and Clark can relate to the fact that they feel their abilities inhibit them from having a true relationship with the women they love The writers tried to create parallels between the characters to emphasize this more like Victor s fear of telling his girlfriend the truth about what LuthorCorp did to his body and Clark s fear of Lana Lang discovering he is an alien 25 Writer Tracy Bellomo characterized Oliver as a guy that does not take himself very seriously and enjoys making fun of people that try to take him that way Bellomo believed that this is one of the reasons that Oliver is attracted to Lois with the other being that Lois provides a challenge for him Oliver s relationship with Clark is designed to broaden Clark s rather limited horizons and to teach Clark that a world exists beyond Smallville 27 Costumes edit nbsp When coming up with costumes for Smallville s Justice League designer Caroline Cranstoun researched various comic book designs before crafting her own With Black Canary Cranstoun chose a design that held a Lara Croft Tank Girl feel 31 In the episode Wither Oliver and Lois attend a costumed ball where Oliver dresses up as Robin Hood The designers decided to model Oliver s costume after the comic book character Green Arrow 34 Costume designer Caroline Cranstoun designed Oliver s official Green Arrow costume in conjunction with illustrator Andy Poon To hide his face Green Arrow typically wears a mask over his eyes but Cranstoun and Keith Christensen of Ocean Drive Leather opted to use a hood and a pair of dark sunglasses to hide Oliver s face Cranstoun revealed that Miles Millar was the one who came up with the hood idea The costume is also made entirely out of leather as the creative team wanted to keep away from using tights Hartley was very impressed with the costume but confessed that it was uncomfortable to wear because it had layers of leather and he had to wear boots with four inch lifts 35 After creating Oliver s Green Arrow costume Cranstoun had the task of crafting updated costume looks for Bart Arthur and Victor for the Justice episode Cranstoun explained that even though Victor does not have any metal on his physical body like his comic book counterpart she wanted to include a metallic look to his costume The designer tried to give Victor a more futuristic feel along with a bit of Transformer y essence by including angular pieces on his vest and coloring them silver black and purple For Bart the costume designers tried to take what was used in his season four appearance and move that to the next level In season four Bart wore a red hoodie with yellow cargo pants which were used to reflect his teenage identity With his Justice League appearance they tried to give the character an appearance that seemed faster His yellow cargo pants were replaced with red jeans and his red hoodie was updated to incorporate more of a lightning bolt logo throughout the piece 24 Arthur s costume was the easiest to create as the color scheme mirrored his comic book counterpart and was constructed to give a wetsuit look The costume was also designed to be more form fitting to complement Ritchson s physique Victor and Arthur s tops were also hoodie variations 24 When designing Dinah Lance s Black Canary costume certain aspects of the comic book character were kept while others changed entirely For instance the character retains her classic fishnet stockings but the external black mask the character wears is swapped for a painted mask 36 Cranstoun researched the various versions of Black Canary s costume looking through the 1940s and 50s to try to come up with the right version for the show Cranstoun explained that she primarily came across two versions One version reminded the designer of a Playboy Bunny with a curvy corseted strapless thing that was not at all action friendly The other was more reminiscent of Lara Croft and Tank Girl which is the route Cranstoun took What Cranstoun created was a zipped sleeveless body suit with a boot that was really flat and practical The designer also kept the yellow accents the comic version had as well as the long gloves The filming crew did test shots with various masks for the character including a leather mask reminiscent of the comic book character s look before going with the painted variation 31 Hartley was quick to point out that before Justice the series did not focus on the costumes and the capes the flying and the superhero stuff because they had their no flights no tights rule in effect That changed with Justice and Hartley suggested that the actors really had to commit themselves to their roles while wearing the costumes otherwise you look like a standup comedian who doesn t like his jokes very much Young said that he was one of the luckiest out of the group because he only had to wear a silver vest and regular pants unlike Ritchson who had to put on a onesie Speedo Ritchson felt that he was distracted by what he was wearing it but it was best to try to take mind off of the subject Hartley Ritchson and Young stated that they felt sorry for Gallner for having to wear a costume that they believed sucked The group described Gallner s costume as something his mom might have made with some cotton fabric and a Magic Marker 37 Creating superpowers edit In order to illustrate the special abilities of the Justice League members special effects company Entity FX had to come in and digitally create the powers for each character Senior Producer at Entity FX Trent Smith explained that they wanted to give Bart s super speed a more current look so they employed 3D techniques in conjunction with the 2D graphics from season four to create a hybrid image for the screen Smith explained that the 3D technology allowed the team to choose a path for Bart that he may not be able to achieve in the 2D composite world Entity FX used Autodesk Maya and Adobe After Effects to create the 3D stream that follows Bart when he is running at super speed 38 For Victor Entity FX tried to create digital imagery of the character s inner workings to give the audience the chance to see how his robotic side operates For instance Entity FX visually walked the audience through the process of how Victor s CPU downloads the schematics and diagrams to Lex s Level 33 1 facility as well as disarming the security Creating abilities for Arthur posed their own challenges as there were not a lot of opportunities to put the character in the water when he was in the Mid West Using the technology they had when Arthur first came to Smallville as well as the effects used in the unaired pilot for Aquaman Entity FX was able to digitally create both Arthur and the water he swims in for the character s arrival shot at Level 33 1 When creating Arthur s super swimming speed the team attempted to give the imagery a look similar to that of a torpedo gliding through the water The team battled back and forth on how to illustrate Arthur s movements deciding between having the character leave a trail of bubbles like a torpedo or maneuvering around the water and actually traveling with the bubbles 38 Reception editWhen judging individual appearances DVD Verdict s Jennifer Malkowski felt that Alan Ritchson s performance as Arthur Curry in Aqua was rather wooden 39 while Filip Vuckevic of IGN felt that the introductions for Victor Stone and Arthur Curry were simply wasted as the characters are not given anything to do in the episodes 40 Commenting on the introduction of Oliver Queen s Green Arrow persona in the season six episode Arrow IGN s Chris Carabott felt that the series took its time developing a character that fit the style of the show Carabott acknowledged that Green Arrow s costume though not exactly like in the comics respects the spirit of the character in its design the gadgets he uses make it feel like the producers are taking a page out of the Justice League Unlimited book which makes for quality entertainment 41 Carabott felt that Phil Morris did well as John Jones Martian Manhunter but lacked a proper introduction Phil Morris does a respectable job of portraying John Jones in the few scenes we see him in He lacks the screen presence of someone like Carl Lumbly who voiced the character on Justice League but Morris holds his own and delivers the lines in that strong straight forward tone that is signature Manhunter 42 Alan Blair editor of Airlock Alpha felt that Smallville s approach to Black Canary succeeded where the television series Birds of Prey failed First Smallville dropped the idea of meta humans which Blair believed is what doomed Birds of Prey managed to make Black Canary look more like her comic book counterpart and also give her Canary Cry some level of credibility 43 Carabott acknowledged that Smallville created a fairly good depiction of Black Canary but disagreed with certain aesthetical choices First Carabott did not appreciate the removal of Black Canary s long blonde hair or the addition of make up around the eyes that gave the character the look of Pris from Blade Runner Carabott stated that Huffman s acting came off as a little over the top at times but overall he felt that she was the right choice for Smallville 44 Carabott also had his own feelings about the first official Justice League appearance in season six s Justice The writer suggested that the first live action appearance of the League since the failed pilot back in the 1990s deserved more than just a single episode Carabott stated that at least two or three episodes would have been needed to properly tell the narrative of their introduction 45 Instead he felt like the character introductions were rushed even though they had all appeared on the series prior to season six 46 Justice would go on to earn the highest ratings of any episode in season six with 5 26 million viewers 47 Merchandise editFollowing the end of the sixth season DC Direct released new action figures modeled after Smallville s Justice League as they appeared in the season six episode Justice The toys featured detailed likenesses of Welling Hartley Ritchson Gallner and Young 48 Other media appearances editSpin offs edit At various points throughout the series the studio discussed developing individual shows for Bart Oliver Arthur and the entire Justice League The topic of a television series based on the Flash came underway a year before the character made his first appearance on Smallville According to writer Steven S DeKnight there were creative differences over how a Flash television series should be handled given the previous attempt at translating the character to the small screen in 1990 DeKnight explained that the studio wanted to create a Flash who was a time traveling college student from Gotham City As a result the series never materialized and the character was ultimately brought to Smallville 21 Following the appearance of Arthur Curry which became one of the highest rated episodes of that season Smallville developers Al Gough and Miles Millar began work on an Aquaman pilot for The WB Television Network with Justin Hartley as Arthur Curry 49 As work progressed on season five s Aqua the character was recognized to have potential for his own series 49 The season five episode was never meant to be a backdoor pilot for an Aquaman television spin off 50 so Alan Ritchson was never considered for the role 49 Gough stated in a November 2005 interview that the series would have put a different spin on the Aquaman mythology 49 Although Gough did not look at the new series as a true spin off he did suggest an interest in doing a crossover with Smallville 51 Aquaman is currently the only series to go into production though it was ultimately not picked up by The CW network which had formed from a merger between The WB and UPN during the production of the pilot 52 53 54 During the sixth season there was a talk about creating a new series based on the Green Arrow Oliver Queen character Hartley refused to talk about the possibility of a spin off during the filming of the sixth season out of respect for his role on Smallville The actor felt he should respect what Smallville had accomplished in five seasons and not steal the spotlight by thinking he was better than he was just because there was talk of a spin off after only two appearances on the show According to Hartley talking was as far as the spin off ever got 55 According to Gough the Green Arrow spin off would have introduced the idea of Oliver acting in more of a Professor X role where he takes in people with superpowers who have no place to go and trains them The series would have used characters that would be more easily cleared by the film division at Warner Bros 24 As DeKnight clarified the series would have featured the introduction of new characters some from the Teen Titans and others from the DC Comics universe as well as going into more depth for the background story of its primary characters like Bart Victor and Arthur As with the other potential series this one never came to fruition 21 Mobile phone online tie ins edit Although the team s prominent appearances are on the television series there have been additional media appearances based around marketing tie ins In early 2007 Oliver Queen received a personal treatment with a promotional tie in with Sprint titled Smallville Legends The Oliver Queen Chronicles The series looked at the origins of Oliver s alternate identity 56 On April 19 a tie in with Toyota promoting their new Yaris featured an online comic strip as interstitial programs during new episodes of Smallville titled Smallville Legends Justice amp Doom 57 The interactive comic was based on the episode Justice and picks up after the events of that episode following Oliver Bart Victor and Arthur as they seek to destroy all of LuthorCorp s secret experimental labs 58 The team eventually uncovers a prototype soldier LuthorCorp is working on that combines the superpowers of various kryptonite enhanced individuals and places them into a single soldier 59 The online comic then directly ties into the television series when Oliver and his team off screen contact Clark in the episode Prototype and tell him how to defeat one of these soldiers 60 The online series allowed viewers to investigate alongside the fictional team in an effort to win prizes Stephan Nilson wrote all five episodes while working with a team of artists for the illustrations The plot for each comic episode would be given to Nilson at the same time the production crew for Smallville was filming their current television episode Artist Steve Scott would draw comic book panels which would be sent to a group called Motherland That group would review the drawings and tell Scott which images to draw on a separate overlay This allowed for multiple objects to be moved in and out of the same frame 58 Before and after the first appearance of the League on Smallville there were talks among studio heads about spinning off individual characters or the entire team into their own television shows but nothing came to fruition Smallville is the first series television or film to feature live action portrayals of Aquaman Green Arrow and Cyborg Comic books edit In 2012 the Smallville series was continued through the comic book medium with Smallville Season 11 Written by Bryan Q Miller who also wrote for the television series the first issues feature Chloe Sullivan referencing that they re trying to establish an info hub linked the Watchtower in every city inhabited by a member of the organization 61 In the second issue Lex Luthor discovers that Queen Industries is building a facility on the far side of Earth s moon as a base for the team and its construction is under John Jones supervision Despite seemingly having died after her encounter with Lex Luthor the team s liaison is Tess Mercer whose consciousness is revealed to be bonded to her half brother s mind 62 63 Luthor sees this as an opportunity to learn the heroes secrets before removing Tess from his mind and creates measures to prevent them from finding out his situations with Tess 64 Despite his efforts Tess still manage to send her message to the team of her predicaments with Lex and they extract her consciousness from him and uploaded it to the Watchtower computer system as a temporary home for her mind 65 In issue five the team begins to investigate the warning given by a parallel universe version of Chloe Sullivan about a Crisis Here is the first appearance of Bruce Wayne who is secretly the vigilante Batman of Gotham City whose father Thomas Wayne was invited to join the secret society Veritas by Lionel Luthor Batman along with his partner Nightwing Barbara Gordon arrive to Metropolis in search of his parents killer Joe Chill who works as a contact for Intergang 66 Bart Allen returns in the ninth issue donning a new costume and explores the source of his powers the Speed Force as well as encountering the Black Flash from it while battling a bunch of super intelligent gorillas in Paris Bart once again challenges Clark to a race this time with the latter in flight 67 In the eleventh issue it reveals that Bart got his powers after the JSA member Jay Garrick refused to run forcing the Speed Force s sentience to create a new speedster to take his place 68 In a story arc chronologically parallel to Clark and Bart s while Batman and Nightwing chase members of the criminal gang in Gotham the Mutants the latter is attacked by a White Martian and left injured John Jones appears and offers his assistance to Bruce on investigating the attack Jones also adapts the superhero identity Martian Manhunter In addition the new Watchtower outpost on the Moon is shown being built and that S T A R Labs is helping Queen Industries in its construction as well as using Emil Hamilton s Hazardous Environmental Drones as crew It also reveals that Batman has joined the team 69 During the series run Bryan Q Miller revealed that there is no formal Justice League Rather there is Watchtower which networks agents all over the world 70 This is reflected in the series where the organization is regularly identified as the Watchtower Network 67 71 72 73 The conclusion of the miniseries Smallville Continuity sees the formation of the formal Justice League The team is given a roster of Superman Batman Wonder Woman Green Arrow Green Lantern John Stewart Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado Tess Mercer 74 References edit Steven S DeKnight writer amp David Barrett director October 20 2004 Run Smallville Season 4 Episode 5 The WB Television Network Todd Slavkin Darren Swimmer writers amp Paul Shapiro director October 20 2005 Aqua Smallville Season 5 Episode 4 The WB Caroline Dries writer amp Glen Winter director February 16 2006 Cyborg Smallville Season 5 Episode 15 The WB Todd Slavkin Darren Swimmer writers amp Paul Shapiro director October 6 2006 Sneeze Smallville Season 6 Episode 2 The WB Kelly Souders Brian Peterson writers amp Michael Rohl director October 19 2006 Arrow Smallville Season 6 Episode 4 The WB a b Steven S DeKnight writer amp director January 18 2007 Justice Smallville Season 6 Episode 11 The CW Television Network a b c d Kelly Souders Brian Peterson Todd Slavkin Darren Swimmer writers amp Kevin G Fair director September 18 2008 Odyssey Smallville Season 8 Episode 1 The CW Al Septien Turi Meyer writers amp Jeannot Szwarc director November 20 2008 Bride Smallville Season 8 Episode 10 The CW Don Whitehead amp Holly Henderson writers amp Michael Rohl director February 5 2009 Requiem Smallville Season 8 Episode 14 The CW Al Septien Turi Meyer writers amp Whitney Ransick director January 25 2007 Labyrinth Smallville Season 6 Episode 12 The CW Todd Slavkin Darren Swimmer writers amp James Marshall director March 17 2007 Phantom Smallville Season 6 Episode 22 The WB Brian Peterson Kelly Souders writers amp Michael Rohl director September 27 2007 Bizarro Smallville Season 7 Episode 1 The CW Kelly Souders Brian Peterson writers amp Michael Rohl director October 23 2008 Prey Smallville Season 8 Episode 6 The CW Geoff Johns writer and Glen Winter amp Tom Welling directors February 5 2010 Absolute Justice Smallville Season 9 Episode 11 The CW Kelly Souders Biran Peterson writers amp Kevin Fair director February 7 2008 Siren Smallville Season 7 Episode 11 The CW Brian Miller writer amp Morgan Beggs director January 22 2009 Hex Smallville Season 8 Episode 12 The CW Al Septien Turi Meyer writers and Greg Beeman director May 14 2010 Salvation Smallville Season 9 Episode 21 The CW John Chisholm writer and Tom Welling director November 19 2010 Patriot Smallville Season 10 Episode 9 The CW John Chisholm writers and Justin Hartley director April 29 2011 Dominion Smallville Season 10 Episode 19 The CW Bryan Q Miller amp Anne Cofell Saunders writers and Mike Rohl director May 6 2011 Prophecy Smallville Season 10 Episode 20 The CW a b c d Byrne Craig May 2007 Smallville Season 4 The Official Companion Titan Books pp 40 43 ISBN 978 1 84023 957 7 a b c Byrne Craig Season 4 Companion pg 142 a b Byrne Craig November 2007 Smallville Season 5 The Official Companion Titan Books p 144 ISBN 978 1 84576 542 2 a b c d Byrne Craig Season 6 Companion pp 56 66 a b Byrne Craig Season 5 Companion pp 80 83 Byrne Craig Season 6 Companion pg 146 a b Byrne Craig Season 6 Companion pp 136 139 Byrne Craig Season 6 Companion pg 22 Byrne Craig Season 6 Companion pp 32 35 Kristin Dos Santos June 3 2008 Smallville Season Eight Look Who s In Eonline Retrieved June 4 2008 a b c Byrne Craig Season 7 Companion pg 142 Craig Byrne January 2007 Smallville at KryptonSite Phil Morris Interview January 2007 KryptonSite Retrieved June 16 2008 Byrne Craig Season 6 Companion pp 144 147 Byrne Craig Season 6 Companion pg 24 Byrne Craig Season 6 Companion pg 28 30 Byrne Craig Season 7 Companion pp 62 65 Kate O Hare January 18 2007 Smallville Forms a Justice League Zap2it Archived from the original on May 24 2009 Retrieved June 12 2009 a b Ryan Ball January 19 2007 Entity FX Brings Justice to Smallville Animation Magazine Retrieved June 7 2009 Jennifer Malkowski October 16 2006 Season 5 review DVD Verdict Archived from the original on December 6 2008 Retrieved June 7 2009 Filip Vuckevic October 25 2006 Smallville The Complete Fifth Season The series enters its not so superfifth season IGN Retrieved June 12 2009 Chris Corbott October 20 2006 Smallville Arrow Review Green Arrows Smoke Arrows Grappling Arrows and even Electric Arrows IGN Retrieved June 12 2009 Chris Carabott January 26 2007 Smallville Labyrinth Review Are the last five years just a figment of Clark Kent s imagination IGN Retrieved September 11 2010 Alan Stanley Blair February 10 2008 Review Smallville Siren Airlock Alpha Retrieved August 6 2009 Chris Carabott February 8 2008 Smallville Siren Review Green Arrow Black Canary What could possibly go wrong IGN Retrieved August 6 2009 Chris Carabott January 19 2007 Smallville Justice Review Green Arrow Clark Kent and some super friends fight the evil Lex Luthor IGN Retrieved June 12 2009 Chris Carabott June 14 2007 Smallville Season 6 Review Did Green Arrow Jimmy Olsen and Martian Manhunter help deliver a good season IGN Retrieved June 12 2009 Weekly Program Rankings ABC Medianet 2007 01 23 Archived from the original on January 18 2012 Retrieved March 28 2009 Byrne Craig Season 7 Companion pg 154 a b c d Josef Adalian November 13 2005 WB dives into Aquaman Variety Retrieved January 1 2007 The WB Makes Aquaman Official superherohype com November 13 2005 Retrieved January 5 2007 Craig Byrne January 19 2006 KryptonSite 100th episode interview with Alfred Gough KryptonSite Retrieved January 1 2007 Aquaman consigned to the depths The Stare May 22 2006 Retrieved May 10 2007 Pilots not taking off for soap stars this fall Jamaica Gleaner June 3 2006 Archived from the original on September 27 2007 Retrieved May 10 2007 Andrew Wallenstein April 12 2006 2006 07 pilots The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on April 17 2007 Retrieved May 10 2007 Byrne Craig March 2008 Smallville The Official Companion Season 6 London Titan Books pp 136 138 ISBN 978 1 84576 656 6 Carly Mayberry January 18 2007 CW Sprint animate Smallville The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on January 3 2013 Retrieved September 23 2007 John Consoli April 19 2007 WB CW Toyota Pact for Marketing Campaign Media Week Archived from the original on September 11 2007 Retrieved September 23 2007 a b Brian Warmoth April 24 2007 Faster Than a Speeding Panel Wizard Universe Archived from the original on December 19 2007 Retrieved September 23 2007 Smallville Legends Justice amp Doom Volume 4 Smallville Season 6 DVD Bonus Features Warner Bros Steven S DeKnight writer amp Mat Beck director May 10 2007 Prototype Smallville Season 6 Episode 21 The WB Smallville Season 11 vol 1 1 May 2012 Smallville Season 11 vol 1 2 June 2012 Smallville Season 11 vol 1 3 July 2012 Smallville Season 11 vol 1 8 December 2012 Smallville Season 11 vol 1 12 April 2013 Smallville Season 11 vol 1 5 September 2012 a b Smallville Season 11 vol 1 9 December 2012 Smallville Season 11 vol 1 11 March 2013 Smallville Season 11 Special vol 1 1 May 2013 Bryan Q Miller October 19 2013 Bryan Q Miller Twitter Retrieved November 22 2018 Smallville Season 11 Special Vol 1 5 September 2014 Smallville Chaos Vol 1 3 December 2014 Smallville Season 11 vol 1 19 January 2014 Smallville Season 11 Continuity Vol 1 4 May 2015 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Justice League Smallville amp oldid 1184918347, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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