If Eric Kripke was in charge of Smallville from the beginning

[Joe Washington]

Would Lex and Clark's friendship be more like Sam and Dean's brotherly bond? Would Mr. Kent have died earlier than he did in Smallville? Would the meteor freaks be used intelligently and with more humanity than cardboard villany like the monsters of Supernatural? What kind of changes to the show do you think would have resulted if Kripke was running things on the show?

 

[Jetfire]

The show would be very different. Biggest change not so much retcon. I don't watch Supernatural enough to know if there is alot of retcon.

 

[Aragorn]

But how much of what made Smallville the show it was due to the idiot showrunners and how much of it was due to CW interference?

 

[Dorian Thompson]

He'd have cast Jensen Ackles as Clark. We know that for a fact. The Smallville producers loss was Kripke's gain.

In all seriousness, Kripke would have had a general outline and plan for the series, something that Smallville lacks. Kripke wouldn't sign on for nine seasons. The biggest difference is that he'd have encouraged much more of an emphasis on the Clark/Lex relationship and its eventual disintegration than on the never ending romantic Clark/Lana relationship. When the young actress they'd intended as Dean's love interest during season two didn't click, she was written out the same season. The love interest's mother actually became more popular; the SPN writers incorporated her more. Momma is back this season. Kripke and his writers script several wickedly lurid references to Dean's one night stands; I don't know if that would have worked for white bread Clark but Kripke would have tried to make Clark a bit more caustic than he is. When future Dean asked present Dean for a bit of information only he would know and Dean answered that one of his girlfriends had made him try on her pink panties and he liked it, well.....I just don't know if the Superman franchise folk would have allowed that.

Who can say when Kripke would have wanted Jonathan Kent to die, but he'd have made it count. The episode where daddy Winchester died remains the most poignant episode of Supernatural to date. EK wouldn't have made it all about saving a girl, that's for sure. It was all about daddy W making a deal for Dean, which ultimately led to Dean's self esteem being so low that he bargained away his own life for his brother's. In Supernatural land, actions have repercussions that last. People remember what they did an episode ago, a month ago, and a year ago.

I don't know how much gore Kripke could have gotten away with in Supernatural. Different universe there, but Clark would have been more interesting.

 

[mswood]

I think he probably would have done worse... Kripke seems to produce a bunch of crap unless its something he is very passionate about. Exhibit A. Tarzan, the series....Made the first couple seasons of Smallville look like fine art. Exhbit B. I can't remember that god awful cheap horror film he did (he even makes fun of it).

Seriously this is the only project that I have seen him do consistently solid work on, and its the one story (or type of story) he has always waited to tell.

 

[mswood]

Oh and there would be undercurrents of homosexual tension between Lex and Clark....Oh wait, never mind.....

 

[Admiral_Young]

Wasn't it down to Jensen Ackles and Tom Welling for Clark during auditions? I agree that there would have been a plan. I think Gough and Miller originally had some kind of plan but CW kept renewing the show and perhaps they had to scrap their original plans. I think they have stated that they wrote a three or four year plan for Smallville in an issue of Wizard some time ago. Smallville would have been better had their been an effective season by season arc. Sounders and Peterson seem to try to have one last year but IMO butchered it by the need to bring back Lana and wrap up her storyline. j

 

[nx1701g]

^ Tom Welling was the first pick and Ackles was the backup if Welling turned them down. When it was first offered Welling did turn it down and they were prepared to being the show with Ackles as Clark Kent. Not long before shooting was to begin though Welling contacted WB and accepted and they agreed.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Ok I thought it went something like that.

 

[Capt_Piett]

If Kripke had been in charge? Perhaps Smallville wouldn't have sucked so much....

 

[Dorian Thompson]

He would have infused it with some real humor that isn't so self conscious, that's for sure. He encourages that of his script writers. SV's humor isn't organic. It takes its characters too seriously. It struggles to be geniunely funny when it tries at all. If it had SPN's ability to whiplash from deadly serious into slapstick, it would have been better off in the long run.

Of course, the best thing Eric Kripke would have done for Smallville was what he did for SPN: he hired Ben Edlund as a writer and co-producer. Edlund can switch back and forth from psychotic humor to deeply affecting drama on a dime. He wrote both "Monster Movie" and "On the Head of a Pin." And "Nightshifter." And "The End." SPN fans know what quality those eps were. Edlund turned his hero into a genuine torturer and he didn't flinch from it.

 

[Joe Washington]

Dorian Thompson mentioned that a Smallville under Kripke's control would have more of an emphasis on the Clark/Lex friendship and its downfall than the Clark/Lana relationship. What would that have been like? Do you think Kripke could have killed Lana by the end of the first episode like he did with Sam's girlfriend Jessica?

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Doubtful, since Lana is a part of the early mythology. However, Kripke wouldn't have focused on her to the exclusion of other character development for Clark. When Clark moved on from the Smallville local, Kripke would have been savvy enough to let her character go. He sure wouldn't have concocted a Lana/Lex marriage to keep her in the mix. Also, under Kripke's watch, someone in the narrative would have called Clark out on his bullshit by now. The narrative wouldn't be so easy on Clark.

Ben Edlund isn't afraid to make his protagonists look bad in past or present: Oh, if only Ackles had been Clark and Edlund wrote for Smallville.

Pink panties and bullets in the head

 

[Joe Washington]

Do you think Kripke would have ended the series with Clark and Lex on a good note like he's clearly doing with Sam and Dean in Season 5 after the heartbreaks of Season 4 or on a tragic note with them transformed into mortal enemies, a part of them saddened by the loss of their friendship?

And would have Zod be the final Big Bad of the show for Clark to fight against?

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Since Clark and Lex ended up enemies, I'd say Kripke would go for the bitter enemies end, but feeding up the angst about the lost friendship lurking under the surface. Yeah, he'd have made Zod the big bad, but Zod would be more interesting. He scored Mark Sheppard as Crowley the mega demon who was Lilith's right hand man.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

I dunno if it's because of seeing 8 years of Welling as Clark Kent, but I think he looks more the part of a Clark Kent than Ackles does. Even moreso than Routh, although Routh as Superman reminded me of Dean Cain as Superman. Back to Welling, he even looks like a younger "Abercrombied" version of Christopher Reeves especially from Superman II, where he wasn't nerdy Clark. The kicker is, he doesn't have the acting chops. Just passable, although barely

I honestly can't imagine Jensen playing the part, I just see Dean Winchester, with the deep gravelly voice, hell I've even forgotten what his Jason Teague character was like, but anyways I do agree that Kripke would have not only laid out a better blueprint to the mythos, but executed it better as well.

I actually sometimes wonder of a JJ Abrams Smallville would have been like, he did at one point write a failed Superman script right?

If there were any strongpoints that came out of this incarnation of Smallville, I think most people can agree Rosenbaum's Lex and Glover's Lionel were pretty masterful, well barring the occasional inane plotlines they've been in. Had to work with what they got.

Oh and I guess the Chloe character, although she's really had her annoying moments. Many apologies Procutus, if you read this. Haha

 

[Joe Washington]

Watching Smallville go through its torturous decline and Supernatural go through its thrilling ascent should be proof enough that Eric Kripke would have found ways of making Smallville into an epic human story.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

Well, if he ever gets his hand on Batman material, but yeah right WB would never allow it as long ad there cash cow is still around

I wonder what kind of show he'd come up with post Superntural

 

[nx1701g]

Well, if he ever gets his hand on Batman material, but yeah right WB would never allow it as long ad there cash cow is still around

Pretty much. Batman is the primary movie property and they try to limit his TV appearance (that's why the TV show Birds of Prey was written with Batman having vanished).

 

[Dorian Thompson]

If Eric Kripke had been in charge of Smallville he'd have hired Ben Edlund like he did for Supernatural and Clark would have unclenched long enough to display some real juvenile--yet side splittingly funny--humor like this:

Sam and Dean caught by the admitting nurse in the mental hospital's morgue where they're undercover investigating murders....

Gelatinous dessert

Clark would never have dessert.