Smallville Creators Reveal Their Biggest Clark & Lana Regret
Alfred Gough and Miles Millar shared what they would have done differently if they could go back and make Smallville again.
Smallville premiered in 2001 and quickly became one of the most popular shows of its time.
The coming-of-age show had an epic 10-season run during which it garnered enormous viewership and a huge fanbase. Today, 11 years after the series finale was released, the show still feels relevant. After all, the main theme of the superhero series will hardly ever get out of date.
As Smallville creators explained in the interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the show was about "a closeted teen who can't share his secret." This is a relatable theme for too many teenagers and young adults.
However, there are some storylines that didn't age well, according to Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The main regret the writers have today is dragging on the central relationship arc for too long. Gough told The Hollywood Reporter he wished they added something else in the storyline of Clark Kent and Lana Lang's relationship that started in the pilot episode and lasted for 8 seasons until Lana left Smallville for good.
"I think that was one that got a little repetitive," the writer said.
Gough added that his daughter was rewatching Smallville and had a hard time grasping the Clark-Lana relationship and the way the characters behaved. Since the only explanation he had to offer was "it was a different time," the showrunner thought they had been too cautious with the romance arc.
"If we went back, we probably would be a little more adventurous with some of those relationships and bring them to certain heads and let them play out," he explained.
Miles Millar agreed with his co-creator explaining that Smallville was initially planned as a 5-season show so splitting Clark and Lana apart would have been a challenge for the writers at the time. What would they do with Clark's arc without his main love interest?
Millar added that if he could go back, he would change the way the main female character is portrayed in the show. Having daughters has taught him the value of a strong female character. And Lana had to be such an aspirational character, but her arc was far from that.
"[Lana] could have been a much stronger character, and she always felt put in positions of weakness," Millar said.