CBS’ Supergirl has understandably kept its distance from an actual Superman appearance, both for in-story purposes and the character’s cinematic exploits, but would a familiar face help? Smallville star Tom Welling never technically got a chance to don the famous cape, and answers if he’d be open to stepping in as Supergirl’s Man of Steel.

Buzzfeed conducted a lengthy profile with the erstwhile Clark Kent, in which Welling acknowledged the current crop of superheroes his own ten-season run helped pave the way for. One particular lost bit of the interview saw Welling asked if he’d ever want to play Supergirl’s incarnation of Superman, to which the actor offered:

There’s people who would like it … there’s people who don’t like it, but I will tell you that no one has ever actually asked me to do it. So, I don’t know. It would be kind of odd. I don’t know who he is at that point. He would obviously be Superman …

Welling spent ten years as the WB/CW incarnation of Clark Kent, going from Kansas farmboy to Daily Planet journalist, though even in its series finale, Smallville famously kept Welling from a full-on Superman appearance, only showing the character in distant CG or as a suit under Clark Kent’s clothes.

Supergirl has itself paid homage to past productions featuring movie Supergirl Helen Slater as Kara (Melissa Benoist)’s adoptive mother, as well as Lois & Clark star Dean Cain as her adoptive father. Not only that, but an upcoming episode will feature Smallville’s own Supergirl, Laura Vandervoort, playing another DC role, while a separate hour paying homage to Alan Moore’s “For the Man Who Has Everything” will feature Daniel DiMaggio as a young Kal-El.

It might strain credulity to imagine Welling as Supergirl’s Superman, without keeping mindful of Smallville’s own continuity, but should the Man of Steel ever make an appearance, who could fill the red boots?

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