Welcome To Smallville

When it comes to the film franchise, fans of Superman have been dragged through a meteor shower of rumors, vague quotes, and studio spin for the last three years. They have debated the possibility of a sequel or reboot, even throwing out buzz words like “Requel” and “Routhboot” to try and make sense of it all. Smallville fans haven’t been treated any better and this past week’s Comic Con is all the proof needed to present the case which all started with a Aint It Cool News report and went up, up, and away from there. This is a story of a phantom film called “Metropolis”, Rosie’s suit under the stairs, and the actor who made them all forget.

The madness commenced on June 24^th within the body of a seemingly harmless article courtesy of the previously mentioned, Ain’t It Cool News. Said article pointed to a possible “Smallville” related movie which was to be called “Metropolis”. The “untested source” by the name of “Yoda’s Bitch” relayed the below to AICN:

“On black, with crimson/red text in the same font lettering that Smallville uses, and a transparent grey Superman "S" watermark behind the text: 

METROPOLIS 

CHRISTMAS 2010 

Then at the bottom is a banner advertising the Smallville presentation, with the time/place (can't remember).'''

After receiving a “few bits of convincing detail” that AICN wouldn’t share, they suggested the possibility of both a direct-to-tv movie and a feature length film before warning their readers to “kindly take it all as a rumor”. AICN made the choice to report what they heard and presented all the necessary warnings according to the “Grain of Salt” rolodex, but it was too late. Numerous web sites started to pick up on the report. The speculation and rumor mill had been put into motion and fans of the show were eating it up like Ma Kent’s homemade apple pies 

The second part of the saga involves another scoop sent to AICN on July 23^rd  pointing to the possibility of Mr. Welling wearing an early prototype Supermanish style suit during season 9. According to scooper “X Anne” a woman named “Rosie” was pulling people aside at random next to a Starbucks at “Comic Con” and down a flight of stairs for a sneak peak at the “Red-Blue Blur” suit.

“it's gobsmackingly awesome! no spandex it looked like leather, its one suit, the top is blue at front and back, red on sides and arms, the trousers are blue at the front and back, red at sides. the superman symbol on the chest protruding out, its red. no cape. it was on a stand we could walk around.”

On top of that “X Anne” claimed that Welling was flying down to San Diego to wear the suit on stage at the Smallville panel. Another “confirmation” soon was added to the article from a source by the name of “Richerways” who insisted “the suit makes its on screen debut in the Season Nine premiere, which is called, “Superman”. If you write it, it will be linked. Some web sites ran with it, further exciting an already amped up fan base.

The news from AICN was already coming on the heels of TV Guide’s proclamation that a “major Smallville announcement is expected to come down at Comic Con International this weekend in San Diego.” The fans were geeked. Could it be a movie announcement? Was Tom finally going to be Superman? In the minds of the fans it is all connecting, things now make sense.

Cut to the “Smallville Panel” at Comic Con on Sunday Morning on the Left Coast where all the faces of Smallville were present, including Tom Welling himself. Tom Welling had never before attended a Comic Con, the fans thought, this must be it. Why would Tom show up if nothing big was going down? There were questions, there was footage, Tom and his pearly whites were there. However, there were no Metropolis banners, no “Big Announcement”, no “Red-Blue Blur” suit. There was a shot in the sizzle reel of a black Columbinesque type suit, ironically with a bluish “Superman Returns” \S/. Smallville fans were duped again, first it was rumors of Tom Welling playing Superman on the big screen back in 2004, then it Welling suiting up for a Justice League feature. Now this.

These reports just screamed fake to most people who read them, but when you are fan, of course you would love it to be a possibility and you look for ways in which it “could be” rather than why it “wouldn’t be”. All of us have been guilty of it at one time or another, hoping an obviously flawed rumor turns out to be true. I think in the age of the internet, any fan has to be on their toes, weeding through the falsities in order to uncover the truth. This applies to me and my fellow web jockeys as well, we all have been bitten in the ass by an untested source.

There were a couple of winners in all this, the major one being Michael Ausiello, who scooped everybody’s tights off regarding the upcoming season of Smallville. Ausiello debunked the “Metropolis” rumors on July 8^th along with the tidbit that fans would see an \S/ on Clark’s chest and later being the first to officially report Welling would be in attendance among other season nine spoilers. Superman Homepage also came out on top, having people in place at Con that actually did the leg work and checked up on this phantom Rosie and her mysterious suit rightfully calling it a hoax.

The losers? Well to me it is the fans, sure Welling was in attendance, but this was most likely due to the fact that this is the last season of Smallville. Granted that really was special for the fans at the panel but I don’t see how they can’t feel duped after going through this whirlwind yet again. Smallville fans are the most loyal group of television fans out there and they continually are hit in the face with a disappointment pie perpetuated by the rumor mill that is the internet. Can you blame the fans? Something they wanted for so long seemed well within their grasp and now they are forced to settle for something of lesser value. Thus the trials and tribulations of being a fan.

Do you blame the web sites that are running these rumors? What about TV Guide and AICN in all of this? The link to the AICN article regarding the suit has disappeared, “node 41794” now takes you to a Brett Ratner article which was written in 1969. Not sure what the benefit is of erasing the article, it is still linked on dozens of web sites, so although it has been taken down at AICN it surely still exists. AICN is one of the pioneers of internet based film and television news and have helped to pave the way for other web sites but I disagree with pulling the article. Gone but not forgotten.

Smallville Season premieres September 25^th.