Long before Brandon Routh and Tyler Hoechlin played Superman, Tom Welling made Clark Kent his own on the small screen in hit TV series Smallville.
So Arrowverse producer Marc Guggenheim was delighted when the actor approved of how they wrapped his version of the DC superhero in the latest crossover.
Having aired across December and January in the US, Crisis on Infinite Earths united The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl and Batwoman. It also saw cameos from the likes of Batman icon Kevin Conroy, Black Lightning's Cress Williams, Lucifer's Tom Ellis and Smallville stars Erica Durance – who plays Lois Lane – and Welling himself.
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When Hoechlin's Kal-El and Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton) jumped between realities in 'Part Two' of the special, they discovered the pair living an ordinary life at the Kent Farm.
Later, it was explained that Clark had hung up his cape for good so that he could settle down and start a family with his wife.
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"The idea that Clark would give up his powers in order to have this kind of life, that really resonated with all of us, and I think it really resonated with Tom [Welling]. It just makes sense," Guggenheim recalled during an interview on Fake Nerd Podcast.
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"We very much wanted to tell the audience that the promise of Smallville was, 'He's going to become Superman.'
"We wanted to make it very clear that that did happen, that he did become Superman, that he did have all these adventures, but they are left to your imagination."
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