Smallville Star Trolling Fans or Teasing a Comeback as Lex Luthor in the DCU?
A Smallville star may have recently hinted that he'll be back for more in the future of DC Studios. Was this just a prank on his fans? Or a small public hint at his return?
Michael Rosenbaum starred as the vile Lex Luthor in Smallville, a teenage drama adaptation based on the Superman mythos. The series lasted ten seasons on The CW in the early 2000s.
The series focused in part on the relationship between Clark Kent and Luthor, who grew up as friends in this continuity. Rosenbaum was featured in every episode until Season 7, before his incredible return in the show's finale. While it's a vastly different take on the character from the source material, Rosenbaum's portrayal is one of the fans' favorites.
Recently, he changed his Twitter picture to a picture of Lex – a mere days after James Gunn announced the new slate of upcoming DC films. One of those films will be a Superman reboot.
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This could be one of several things: A troll to fans, a dip in nostalgia for a fun role from his past, or a hint that he will be in DC's future.
Rosenbaum is now in his 50s, a more comic-accurate age range for the evil businessman Lex. More importantly, he's good friends with Gunn – who's not been shy about casting friends in his new movies.
Gunn, who previously worked with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is now co-CEO of DC Studios with Peter Safran. He has a lot of friends in the industry, including actors he worked with during his MCU stint. He cast several MCU actors in his The Suicide Squad, a move that some fans didn't take well.
Rosenbaum and Gunn have publicly been friends for at least a decade, with Rosenbaum even getting a small role in Gunn's 2017 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as Martinex. They previously worked together on Gunn's 2008 web series James Gunn's PG Porn, which also featured Safran as a producer.
Gunn has been adamant that, whether fans like it or not, he will cast friends in his movies if they fit the role.
Rosenbaum has previously stated that he's more than willing to return as Lex Luthor. On top of his Smallville role, he's played various characters in several DC animated series.
Fans may not like the idea of Gunn hiring his buddies, but the DC veteran Rosenbaum would be a good fit, and it would be a nice piece of Smallville fan service. It's still unclear if it was trolling or a hint to the future, but Batman v. Superman proved that they could do far worse than Rosenbaum.