hermione7
http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0702/12/smallvillela.htm
LOS ANGELES -- If the questions aimed at Smallville executive producers Al Gough and Miles Millar are any indications, fans really want to see Bruce Wayne on the show.
Alas, with Batman hot as a feature-film property in live-action, that's not going to be happening. Appearing at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention at the Shrine Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, the show's creators said they have tried several times to get Bruce Wayne, but they've moved on from that pursuit.
"Sadly, no," Gough said with a smile after the first of several Batman/Bruce Wayne questions during the panel. "It's not our fault. We've tried and tried, but because of the feature-film franchise, they've made that kind of off limits. Unfortunately."
"It's a very clear statement: You can't use Bruce Wayne," Millar said. "We've got over it and we're moving on. There are plenty of other characters we can exploit."
In a rare convention appearance, Gough and Millar handled questions -- often several in rapid-fire succession from a single fan -- for more than 30 minutes and then signed Smallville posters.
Following are highlights from the panel:
* Asked what they would do with Wonder Woman -- again, it's not going to happen because of feature-film priorites -- Millar said, "We've always wanted to have her. We always thought she could have a relationship with Clark."
"Since Superman and Wonder Woman had a relationship in the comics," Gough added.
Millar said they never had firm ideas of how to treat Diana. "We always ask, then think about it afterwards," he said.
* Gough said he and Millar feel they "definitely have two more seasons in us" and acknowledged there have been rumblings since Season 4 about the show ending.
"We certainly feel, now that they're out of high school, with last season and certainly this season, we have a lot more stories to tell," Gough said.
* "Could happen" and "potentially" answers were given to questions about another Good Lex vs. Bad Lex episode; Superman villains such as Bizarro, Metallo, Doomsday and Parasite; a Hawkgirl appearance; a Green Lantern apperance; and some time-travel.
"We certainly like our doppelganger episodes," Gough said, "which always played into the Bizarro element of the comics."
* Gough said Tom Welling will not be putting on the Superman suit, again because of the feature-film franchise.
"It would be the end of the show because that would be when Smallville would end and Superman would begin," Gough said
"It's always been Clark Kent becoming the hero we all know him to become. It was never our intention to put him in the suit, as we always said, unless it was the last moment of the last episode of the series. Now, with the feature film out, we're steering clear of it."
* Despite what happened in "Hydro" and "Crimson," Millar said there are still restrictions with the relationship between Lois and Clark because of the movie franchise.
"We can't play any romance between those two characters," he said. "We did sort of vaguely, because of the Red Kryptonite, get into that area.
"We're very pleased to have her on the show, and we feel very lucky that the features department let us use the character at all. So it's not a problem."
Gough said that he enjoys the current version of Lois because "she's the only one who doesn't treat Clark like he walks on water." Gough also noted that Welling and Erica Durance have a "romantic comedy kind of rapport."
* Lionel's ability to read Kryptonian will play out this season.
* Gough said they've toyed with the idea using Bizarro. He noted that in the Season 4 opener, where Clark came back as Kal and flew the one time, when Martha uses the Black Kryptonite, the plan originally was for Kal and Clark to split apart and have a super-fight.
"But, alas, the budget didn't allow for it," Gough said.
Millar added a "stay tuned for the season finale" hint.
* Will Lois' father return? "Maybe," Gough said. "There may be a tie-in with Lex down the line."
This wouldn't happen until Season 7. "He's stationed overseas for the forseeable future," he said.
* More DC Comics characters? "The more we can play in the DC toybox, the better," Gough said. "It's just a matter of which toys they'll give us."
* Millar said that early in the series' run, when McG was concurrently developing a Superman movie, Smallville couldn't use any Krypton imagery because, in that version of the movie, Krypton wasn't destroyed.
"We've always been curious to look at Krypton and its last days," Gough said. "It's just a matter if the storyline fits and also if budget fits. Because obviously to do something like that would be very expensive."
* Millar said the producers "are definitely talking" about the return of Pete Ross. "It feels like the time," he said, greeted with applause. "We tried to a few years ago, but Sam's (Jones) schedule, he couldn't do it."
Asked about the genesis of Chloe Sullivan, Millar agreed with a fan that she was "a Lois archetype" but "not Lois herself."
"Chloe was also the audience's point of view into Smallville," Gough said, "that this was a place where weird things happen. And we said up front that she was Lois' cousin. I think that was something that was mentioned in Season 2."
"We always told Allison (Mack, who plays Chloe) that," Millar said. "That was always in our treatment to begin with that she was the cousin of Lois."
"And she was sort of Clark's introduction to journalism," Gough said. "And she got him involved into what was going on in the town, so that Clark would have a mystery or adventure to get involved with every week."
LOS ANGELES -- If the questions aimed at Smallville executive producers Al Gough and Miles Millar are any indications, fans really want to see Bruce Wayne on the show.
Alas, with Batman hot as a feature-film property in live-action, that's not going to be happening. Appearing at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention at the Shrine Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, the show's creators said they have tried several times to get Bruce Wayne, but they've moved on from that pursuit.
"Sadly, no," Gough said with a smile after the first of several Batman/Bruce Wayne questions during the panel. "It's not our fault. We've tried and tried, but because of the feature-film franchise, they've made that kind of off limits. Unfortunately."
"It's a very clear statement: You can't use Bruce Wayne," Millar said. "We've got over it and we're moving on. There are plenty of other characters we can exploit."
In a rare convention appearance, Gough and Millar handled questions -- often several in rapid-fire succession from a single fan -- for more than 30 minutes and then signed Smallville posters.
Following are highlights from the panel:
* Asked what they would do with Wonder Woman -- again, it's not going to happen because of feature-film priorites -- Millar said, "We've always wanted to have her. We always thought she could have a relationship with Clark."
"Since Superman and Wonder Woman had a relationship in the comics," Gough added.
Millar said they never had firm ideas of how to treat Diana. "We always ask, then think about it afterwards," he said.
* Gough said he and Millar feel they "definitely have two more seasons in us" and acknowledged there have been rumblings since Season 4 about the show ending.
"We certainly feel, now that they're out of high school, with last season and certainly this season, we have a lot more stories to tell," Gough said.
* "Could happen" and "potentially" answers were given to questions about another Good Lex vs. Bad Lex episode; Superman villains such as Bizarro, Metallo, Doomsday and Parasite; a Hawkgirl appearance; a Green Lantern apperance; and some time-travel.
"We certainly like our doppelganger episodes," Gough said, "which always played into the Bizarro element of the comics."
* Gough said Tom Welling will not be putting on the Superman suit, again because of the feature-film franchise.
"It would be the end of the show because that would be when Smallville would end and Superman would begin," Gough said
"It's always been Clark Kent becoming the hero we all know him to become. It was never our intention to put him in the suit, as we always said, unless it was the last moment of the last episode of the series. Now, with the feature film out, we're steering clear of it."
* Despite what happened in "Hydro" and "Crimson," Millar said there are still restrictions with the relationship between Lois and Clark because of the movie franchise.
"We can't play any romance between those two characters," he said. "We did sort of vaguely, because of the Red Kryptonite, get into that area.
"We're very pleased to have her on the show, and we feel very lucky that the features department let us use the character at all. So it's not a problem."
Gough said that he enjoys the current version of Lois because "she's the only one who doesn't treat Clark like he walks on water." Gough also noted that Welling and Erica Durance have a "romantic comedy kind of rapport."
* Lionel's ability to read Kryptonian will play out this season.
* Gough said they've toyed with the idea using Bizarro. He noted that in the Season 4 opener, where Clark came back as Kal and flew the one time, when Martha uses the Black Kryptonite, the plan originally was for Kal and Clark to split apart and have a super-fight.
"But, alas, the budget didn't allow for it," Gough said.
Millar added a "stay tuned for the season finale" hint.
* Will Lois' father return? "Maybe," Gough said. "There may be a tie-in with Lex down the line."
This wouldn't happen until Season 7. "He's stationed overseas for the forseeable future," he said.
* More DC Comics characters? "The more we can play in the DC toybox, the better," Gough said. "It's just a matter of which toys they'll give us."
* Millar said that early in the series' run, when McG was concurrently developing a Superman movie, Smallville couldn't use any Krypton imagery because, in that version of the movie, Krypton wasn't destroyed.
"We've always been curious to look at Krypton and its last days," Gough said. "It's just a matter if the storyline fits and also if budget fits. Because obviously to do something like that would be very expensive."
* Millar said the producers "are definitely talking" about the return of Pete Ross. "It feels like the time," he said, greeted with applause. "We tried to a few years ago, but Sam's (Jones) schedule, he couldn't do it."
Asked about the genesis of Chloe Sullivan, Millar agreed with a fan that she was "a Lois archetype" but "not Lois herself."
"Chloe was also the audience's point of view into Smallville," Gough said, "that this was a place where weird things happen. And we said up front that she was Lois' cousin. I think that was something that was mentioned in Season 2."
"We always told Allison (Mack, who plays Chloe) that," Millar said. "That was always in our treatment to begin with that she was the cousin of Lois."
"And she was sort of Clark's introduction to journalism," Gough said. "And she got him involved into what was going on in the town, so that Clark would have a mystery or adventure to get involved with every week."