Smallville 25th Anniversary Interview: Michael Rosenbaum Looks Back At Lex Luthor's Legacy & Potential Future With James Gunn's DC

Credit: MovieStillsDB Michael Rosenbaum looks back at 25 years of Smallville, how becoming Lex Luthor was life-changing and a potential future with James Gunn's DC Studios. Published Oct 17, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT Andy Behbakht has worked as an entertainment journalist since 2010, covering all the latest in Hollywood on both the big and small screens, from staying on top of the biggest breaking news, analyzing movies and television shows in Hollywood, to in-depth interviews with actors and storytellers. Andy's career includes having worked for publications such as FanSided, KSiteTV, TV Fanatic, It's Just Movies, Heroic Hollywood, TV Overmind, and more. Outside of his career as an established reporter, Andy is the host and producer of The Showrunner Whisperer, The Flash Podcast, the editor-in-chief of Multiverse of Color, and the network director of DC TV Podcasts. Smallville served as the great origin story not just for Clark Kent before becoming Superman, but also for several key players in the hero's great DC mythology. The superhero and comic book live-action genre has come a long way over the last decades, from the Marvel Cinematic Universe's launch in 2008 to the recent creation of James Gunn's DC Universe in 2025. However, back in the early 2000s, the world had a limited amount of DC and Marvel properties explored outside the comics. But something that has continued to grow in popularity and find a new audience every year since its conclusion in 2011 is Smallville, which premiered on October 16, 2001, bringing the Man of Steel to a new light, showing how Krypton's last son had to learn about his powers and heritage before suiting up as the DC icon. But as much as it centered on the Man of Tomorrow, it also gave the world the deep journey of Lex Luthor, showing how he and Clark initially began as best friends before becoming the destined rivals that readers know them to be. In 2024, I had the honor of speaking with Lex himself, Michael Rosenbaum, and to celebrate Smallville's 25th anniversary, the DC alum returned for an exclusive interview with ScreenRant to look back at the show's beloved legacy. As we got together after nearly two years, the star looked back at making the series and how he and the cast continue to see it celebrated worldwide. The Growth Of Smallville 15 Years After Its End On The CW As the Smallville cast have continued to see the fandom across multiple conventions and events, Rosenbaum made it clear that passionate viewers and reception are a major element in what makes the show still so beloved today, as he reflected on it sinking in to him that The WB series (later The CW) has continued to have the legacy it has to this day. "First of all, I want to thank you for always being so supportive and writing great articles. It's nice to have someone in your corner, someone who's been kind, so I just want to say thank you for that. As for 25 years, well, who gets to do this? Even other shows that have longevity and have done a lot of seasons don't have a fanbase that goes to conventions and who just support the show so much. I can't believe that we're still doing conventions. We're still doing photo shoots every once in a while. It's the gift that keeps on giving. I think Superman is universal. I think it just has something for everybody, so we lucked out when we got on a show like this, and we're very fortunate that it's as successful as it is. As I look back, because now I'm doing the rewatch podcast Talkville, and I'm like, "This is a good show!" I never really had seen the episodes [before], but the quality and the character development are there. Certainly, there are episodes where it's a freak-of-the-week, and it's not as great. But overall, the show was unlike anything else that had come out at the time. Look at the other shows that have spawned since then: Superman and Lois, Arrow, and The Flash. They've all become successful, and they all had a lot of the same crews as Smallville did. But we were sort of the first. And now, it's airing all over the world on Netflix and Hulu, and there's a new audience. People are introducing the show to their kids. You don't feel the impact that the show's had while you're filming. It isn't until years later, when you start going to conventions or reading letters or meeting people, that you understand the weight of the show and what it did. Someone saying, "This is the memory I have of my father and I watching Smallville. He has passed, but we had that." Or vets saying, "We were overseas, and we had the box set of DVDs," or VHS or whatever. "It kept us going, and it brought some entertainment." You don't really understand how the show's affected people, and once you understand that, it's a whole new world. A whole new world opens because then you're like, "Wow, you've affected me and given me a career, and I've affected you. I've given you these moments." Inadvertently, because I didn't think that they would be moments people would cherish forever. But it's a beautiful thing. Who would have thought, 25 years ago when I shaved my head, that my whole life would change? That I would be Lex Luthor. Without social media back then, who would have thought that people would really love what we did? It's an anomaly; it's something I cherish, and I send my gratitude almost every day. Part of that gratitude is to thank you for giving me this career and giving me this role. I'm very grateful. So it's cool." Experiencing Smallville Through The TalkVille Podcast In the era of podcasting and revisiting legacy titles, Rosenbaum is tackling multiple podcasts after launching Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum in 2018. In addition to his in-depth podcast spotlighting Hollywood stars, he and Clark Kent himself, Tom Welling, are co-hosting the TalkVille Podcast, as they rewatch and reflect on the series together with fellow cast members, the creative team, as well as passionate listeners. It's one thing when one is in the midst of making said show, and another to then actually see it as a viewer, which has allowed him to discover and experience aspects of the DC TV drama that he possibly didn't get to when he was starring in it. "Yeah, I had no idea how big the show was going to be until I was at Warner Brothers doing some ADR for the pilot. David Nutter, the director, took me aside and said, "You want to see the whole opening of the show? And my heart was beating so fast because all you're thinking as an actor is, "Oh, please, I hope I look good. I hope I'm good." But within three minutes, I forgot everything, and was just so captivated by what I saw on the screen, and the sound and the effects. I was so blown away that I called my parents, and I never call my parents about this stuff. Because for an actor's career, it's like, "Oh, I'm doing an independent movie," and they're like, "Oh, so it's not a real movie?" That's what the perception is. But I said to my parents, "This show is going to be a hit, and I think it's going to make me famous." I knew it for the first time in my life. It's lightning in a bottle. When I got Smallville, it was like, "Okay, you might not have to work for a while." It is work, but it's extraordinary. It's extraordinary, the feeling when they say the ratings are in, the show's going, and we're picked up for a second season, and a third season. It's like, "Wow, I could buy a house." All these things just changed my whole existence. There's nothing better in this world, in terms of stability, than knowing that you have a steady stream of income. It's everything an actor wants. To be employed, and to go to work every day, is just an incredible thing. But it's an anomaly to be on a hit show, and to be on a hit show that people [love like this]. You could be on NCIS, but you go to conventions, and nobody's there. When it comes to the sci-fi and superhero niche, it's the gift that keeps on giving. I think that's why everybody wants to be part of Marvel and DC and the horror genre. When something hits, the next thing you know..." For instance, Michael Johnston, from Obsession. I adore him; he's a great guy. He's coming on my podcast. Before that movie, nobody knew who he was. Then he gets this movie, and now he's got offers and doing all these movies, and he's got a big following. It could happen like that, and there's always that hope that it could happen. But for most people, it's just living paycheck to paycheck, job to job. When you land something big like this, it takes a lot of stress off your plate." Is There A Place For Smallville At James Gunn's DC Studios? A lot has gone down since Rosenbaum and I spoke in 2024, but we discussed the Smallville animated sequel that he and Welling are trying to develop. With Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount merging into Skydance, time will tell if a revival happens. However, as he and James Gunn are good friends, I asked if they, even if it hasn't been an official meeting, have had any chats in general at all about finding a place for the show at DC Studios. "I haven't really had the conversation, but Al [Gough] and Miles [Millar] wrote something for me that is spectacular, and when it's the right time, it's the right time. Right now - I won't say anything, but - I feel like James and that world, they have all their ideas of what they're doing, and I'm not sure Smallville is part of that equation. I'm not sure that while doing and creating this new world of Superman and Supergirl and all these things, they want to complicate things. Maybe in their minds, if we do something Smallville, now you're conflicting with the new thing and the past. I'm not sure. It's just one of those things where, when it's the right time, I'll definitely pitch it. Tom's there with me; the whole cast wants to do it. Al and Miles want to do it, so I just feel like when the time's right - it could be five years from now - it will happen. I think it's just such a solid idea, and there's such a built-in audience, and I've got these great drawings and illustrations of what it would look like. Hopefully, every character would voice themselves, and we'd have Freaks of the Week, and we'd have all this stuff. It'd be like almost a continuation, and I think it could be really cool. So, when the time comes, and it's in the right hands, I think it will come to fruition." A Potential Larger Future In James Gunn's DCU After 2025's Superman As the DCU's Superman movie brought David Corenswet as the next star to play the DC icon, Rosenbaum actually had a voice cameo in Gunn's superhero entry. With his and Gunn's dynamic, he elaborated on whether or not he could ever see himself as a more present character in the franchise and if there are any DC players he would love to portray. "I've done a lot of animated voices for a lot of characters in the DC world, but I haven't done much in the Marvel world. I did Guardians of the Galaxy, with a small role as Martinex in 2 and 3, but I would love nothing more than to be a part of that. It's an incredible world. When I think about the character I would love to play, whether it's animated or live-action, I think about Riddler. Something where I could really be - not Lex Luthor, but somebody who can snap. At the same time, I'd love to play a superhero. I'd love to play one of the good guys. I was the voice of the Flash in Justice League, and I loved it. It's funny because you do a role like Lex Luthor, and you're thinking, "The offers are gonna come now that they know I can play this kind of character," but there's still that stigma. It's like, "But he was on a show, and now we're doing the movies," and the crossover isn't what we hoped it would be by now. But I would definitely love to delve into that. I'd love to play another villain, or to play a superhero. Somebody said Silver Surfer [for Marvel,] but they just had one. I'd have to look, but I'd love to be considered for something like that, for sure." As someone who grew up with Rosenbaum as Wally West in the Justice League animated series, I proposed to the DC alum that he could finally play him in live-action for Gunn's DCU, perhaps have him be the Flash from the future to go back in time, especially. Even though The CW's The Flash TV show did a lot of legacy casting, Rosenbaum was unfortunately not one of them, but there were attempts to have him elsewhere in the Arrowverse. "I think they knew that I didn't want to come in as a guest star. They were very interested in me for Superman and Lois, and they were interested in me for some of the other shows, but I just wasn't interested. In my mind, I was Lex, and there can't be another Lex. In the multiverse, when Tom went back with Erica and they did that whole thing, they asked me to come back, and it just didn't feel right to me. I didn't know much about what they were going to do, and they wouldn't tell me. So, I was like, "If I don't know, I'm not going to do it." In fact, I've never really been a guest star on a show. It's crazy. Maybe in the past, once, a long time ago. But it's not that I'm opposed to it. It's that the right role hasn't come along, where you know I connected to it and thought, "I could really add to this." I loved playing Lex. It was a dynamic, larger-than-life character, and I wanted to keep him grounded and real. He had emotions, and I wanted you to care about him, and I would like to bring that to another character. So, we'll see what happens." What Is Next For Michael Rosenbaum Custom image by Sam MacLennan Outside of keeping Smallville's legacy alive and his growing success for his podcast empire, Rosenbaum has a lot of exciting projects coming up, as he is a big horror fan himself, while also working as a writer and developer for new properties. "Right now, I'm going to be directing a horror movie that I wrote, and I created a series for HBO that we're developing with Geena Davis. I just did a horror movie with Matthew Lillard that's coming out in the new year, so I'm having fun, and I'm doing my thing. So, I don't really think too much about what I'm not getting or what I'm not being considered for. I just kind of go, "Hey, this is great. Let's just go in this trajectory of doing the things you love, and go from there." Just the fact that people want to see what I'm doing, and they listen to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, the podcast - it's a blessing, man. I don't know what else to say. We're going to Nashville, [in November for Salute to Smallville] the 25th anniversary of Smallville Con, and we've got 250 people coming to me and Tom's event that we do. We read old scenes, we interact with fans, there are prizes, and it's such a fun time. It's amazing. Sometimes I just stop, and I force myself to just look from the outside in. I think, "Wow, look at this, You created this. People are having fun and laughing and enjoying themselves." And it all comes from Smallville. When Al and Miles offered me the role, it changed my life. It comes back to gratitude and everything. I still pinch myself every day. How lucky am I? I'm going to Paris for a con right after Nashville with the rest of the cast. I get to meet all the fans there. People will say, "You haven't done anything as big as Smallville," and I go, "So what?" How many people get to be on a smash hit show like that, playing a great character for seven years? Almost nobody. The fact that I did that is extraordinary. I did more in my life than I ever expected. I never thought I'd get out of Indiana. I thought I would work at a Sunoco gas station or Wesselman's grocery store, which is all great, but that's what I assumed I would do. I was gearing up to do that, and the hand of fate took me in a different direction. Who would have thought, 25 - 30 years later, I'd be talking to you about something I did many years ago that stood the test of time? It just baffles me to have something that people can share with their children and their grandchildren, and it's just delightful. I can't say enough about it." As horror is dominating in Hollywood, I asked what he could tease about his new project with Matthew Lillard. While keeping it cryptic, Rosenbaum put emphasis on the joy he got from working on the mystery film. "I don't know what I'm allowed to say. But I will say that it's called Let Them Die. It's my friend Bill Whirity's directorial debut, and Matthew Lillard and I are in it with Terry O'Quinn from Lost. It's a fun, little horror movie, and I shot for a week, and I had a blast. I hadn't acted in a while because I've been doing other stuff, and I was like, "Okay, I'll do this for my friend Bill," but also because I like the project. I have this big scene, and it's like riding a bike. I loved it. I grew a beard for the role, and I dove into it. I had fun. I took chances. Acting is an amazing thing, and I still get nervous because I'm a perfectionist. I still want to be great. I want the director to have that look in his eyes, like, "We got this!" I just want to go and deliver, and I have fun doing it. I'm an entertainer, whether I like it or not. Hopefully, that movie will come out soon, but it was fun working with Matt, Terry, and Bill. I'm very excited." As part of celebrating Smallville's 25th anniversary, check out ScreenRant's additional exclusive interviews: Tom Welling Reflects On The Past, Present & Future For His Superman Smallville is available to stream on Hulu (via Disney+) and through home media release. Release Date 2001 - 2011-00-00 Network The WB, The CW Showrunner Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Brian Peterson, Kelly Souders, Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer Directors Mike Rohl, Jeannot Szwarc, Glen Winter, Terrence O'Hara, Whitney Ransick, Mairzee Almas, Paul Shapiro, Rick Rosenthal, David Carson, James L. Conway, Chris Long, Michael Katleman, Morgan Beggs, Allison Mack, David Barrett, Marita Grabiak, Michael W. Watkins, Philip Sgriccia, Rick Wallace, Thomas J. Wright, Todd Slavkin, Brad Turner, Charles Beeson, Craig Zisk Writers Steven S. DeKnight, Holly Henderson, Don Whitehead, Caroline Dries, Mark Verheiden, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Philip Levens, Jordan Hawley, Kenneth Biller, Michael Green, Drew Z. Greenberg, Geoff Johns, John Chisholm, Drew Landis, Julia Swift, Doris Egan, Tracy Bellomo, Garrett Lerner, Greg Walker, Russel Friend, Shintaro Shimosawa, Tim Schlattmann, todd helbing Main Genre Action Creator(s) Alfred Gough, Miles Millar Executive Producer(s) Brian Robbins, Greg Beeman, Joe Davola, Michael Tollin, Brian Peterson, Kelly Souders, Darren Swimmer, Tom Welling Producers Rob Maier, Robert Hargrove, David Willson, Jae Marchant, Tim Scanlan, Alfredo Septién, Turi Meyer, Anne Cofell Saunders Seasons 10 Number of Episodes 217 Creator Alfred Gough, Miles Millar Production Company Tollin/Robbins Productions, Warner Bros. Television, Millar Gough Ink, DC Comics Characters By Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster Cinematographer Glen Winter, Barry Donlevy Distributor Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Filming Locations Vancouver British Columbia Canada Main Characters Chloe Sullivan, Clark Kent / Superman, Martha Kent, Oliver Queen, Lionel Luthor, Lois Lane, Jonathan Kent, Lex Luthor, Lana Lang Sfx Supervisor Michael Walls