Thursday, August 8, 2002

COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL: SMALLVILLE PANEL

By Rob Allstetter / The Comics Continuum

SAN DIEGO - It quickly became apparent that the fan base for Smallville is anything but small.

Warner Bros. conducted a panel on the show last weekend at Comic-Con International and the room proved way too undersized, swelling with fans well before the panel started.

Eventually, everyone was packed in -- many standing -- and executive producers Al Gough and Miles Millar provided insight into the first season as well as dropping hints about the second, which starts on Sept. 24.

The panel was on Smallville and Birds of Prey, but, aside from a trailer for BoP, it focused on Smallville. Last season's finale, "Tempest," was shown and was followed by a question-and-answer session with Gough and Millar.

Here are some of the highlights:

* The Kryptonite freak of the week aspect of the show will be minimized from the first season.

"The core of the show is Kryptonite does weird stuff in Smallville, so that will always be a part of the show in some form. It's just trying to find a balance with those episodes," Gough said. "Quite frankly, Clark Kent has all these super powers, and so who are his villains going to be? But you'll see a better balance on the show.

"We know you love Green Kryptonite so much, that we're going to introduce Red Kryptonite this season."

* Gough and Millar remain steadfast in saying you won't see Clark in the Superman suit, maintaining their "no tights, flights" policy. "We also saw that as part of his identity in Metropolis," Gough said.

* Gough noted that the show is called Smallville. "Now that we sort of sensed your guys' response to Lex, and to Lana, we can start to branch out and tell their stories as well," he said. "The stories don't necessarily have to Clark-centric, which is something we're looking forward to in Season 2 as well."

* Gough said Whitney "is gone."

* Will there be other comics characters appearing in the show?

"There will be," Gough said. "Probably necessarily from other DC universes, but ultimately from the Superman universe, there will be other characters that pop up. Not in the first half of the season."

* Gough on Lex Luthor's development as a villain: "The path to the dark is a journey, it's not a light switch."

* Will Clark and Lana date? "Maybe," Gough said.

* Gough said that Clark will get a new power in the second episode of Season 2. "It won't be flying," Gough said.

* The Ryan character from "Stray" will return in Season 2.

* "We want to explore more of Lex's past," Gough said. "He's such an intriguing sort of character and Michael (Rosenbaum) does such a wonderful job with it. We want to do more with Lex and his life before he came to Smallville."