The CW presented the series finale of Smallville as an epic two-hour movie on Friday, May 13, 2011 (8:00-10:00 p.m. ET.) and re-aired the two-hour finale on May 19, 2011.
In 2018, Chloe reads a Smallville comic book to her young son, who eagerly listens as he lies in bed. She tells the story of a boy from Kansas whose greatest challenge had yet to come.
Seven years earlier
At the Daily Planet, Lois and Clark go back and forth about their upcoming wedding; Lois trying to convince Clark that they are going to call it off and Clark doing the opposite, taking her list of guests and her phone to stop her from calling everyone. Eventually, Clark tells her that she is not in his way, but by his side. He declares that if she really wants to call off the wedding, she will have to leave him standing at the altar.
At the wedding chapel, Oliver and Chloe are decorating the aisle while reminiscing about the missing memories that was their wedding night. They tell each other that they would have gone through with it even if they hadn’t been under Zatanna’s spell. Oliver tells Chloe that she needs to make sure Lois is on time, as she has apparently gone missing for her wedding.
At the Luthor Mansion, Tess is reviewing plans for the mansion's rebuilding when she is confronted by Granny Goodness. Granny offers her one final chance to join Darkseid's forces, so that her life could be spared during the coming destruction. Tess adamantly refuses the offer, declaring that just because she was born into darkness, her fate is not sealed. As Granny leaves, Tess asks when the apocalypse that she mentioned was occurring. Granny replies that it is already beginning.
At the Kent Farm, Martha looks around in shock at all of the boxes that she sees. She looks into a family picture and Jonathan’s reflection is seen. Clark arrives and she tells him that he misunderstood her message when she gave him the farm. She tells Clark that he needs to remember his past and what made him who he is. Clark refutes what she is saying and says that they have to move on and forget what they have lost to progress in their lives. As he leaves after declaring that he has left his past, Jonathan is seen to be crying.
Chloe appears at the Daily Planet and in order to convince Lois, who is insistent that she and Clark should not get married, gives her Clark’s vows. Once Lois reads them, she realizes the mistake she was about to make and runs out of the Daily Planet to prepare for the wedding.
At Watchtower, Tess is desperately trying to access the satellites, only to be blocked out at every try. She orders Watchtower to access security footage which reveals Oliver as the person who disabled the satellites. She then tells Watchtower to bring up previous satellite footage which reveals a massive fireball planet descending towards Earth.
Granny, Desaad, and Gordon Godfrey meet at their lair. Oliver comes in and tells them of his accomplished mission. They are pleased and then assign him his next task: to remove Clark's powers using a gold kryptonitewedding ring.
At Smallville's cemetery, Clark kneels at Jonathan’s grave and expresses his concerns. Jonathan, still unseen by Clark, talks to Clark as he expresses his doubts. Jonathan counters what Clark is saying and does his best to give his unheard advice; Clark says that he has to go beyond that and Oliver appears. Oliver tells Clark that he has to remember his past, and not hide away from everything that has made him who he is. He tells Clark that he has been down this road, and that Clark is the one who saved him.
Clark, adamant on letting go of everything, visits Lois at their apartment. She surprises him by telling him that the wedding is on. She admits that she read his vows and gives him hers in exchange. After discussing what they should do, Clark reads her vows and tells her after moments of silence that he will meet her at the chapel.
Meanwhile, Tess tries her best to alert the team that Apokolips is really a planet inbound for Earth. Before she can finish her warning however, she is ambushed by a group of armed men and taken captive.
Martha is seated at the wedding, while Oliver and Chloe take their positions as the best man and maid of honor. Lois arrives in the doorway and looks around nervous, until Clark takes her by the hand and they walk down the aisle. As Martha and Jonathan as well as everyone else look on, they begin the wedding. Near the final moments of the wedding, Oliver hands Lois the ring for Clark, and Chloe realizes that it is made of gold kryptonite mere seconds before it is placed on Clark's hand and knocks it away before it touches Clark's finger. She tries to speak to Oliver, and once Clark realizes what is going on, tells her to get everyone out of there.
After Clark refuses to surrender to the darkness, Oliver knocks him out of the window. He then attacks Lois, and Clark super-speeds to her rescue. He takes her to safety and returns to confront Oliver.
After they fight briefly, Clark tells Oliver that he believes in him; Oliver overcomes the power of Darkseid and the Omega symbol fades from his skull. Clark believes everything is all right at that point, but Oliver tells him that the world needs its hero sooner than they thought as he shows Clark the coming Apokolips.
Lois listens to Tess’ voicemail as everyone gathers at the Kent farm. Martha tells them that none of the government officials are saying anything until the President speaks. Before Chloe leaves for Star City and for her database, she and Oliver kiss under the volcanic solar eclipse now occurring while Martha and Lois watch the impending doom. Clark spots Jonathan out of the corner of his eye and follows him to the loft. Jonathan tells Clark that he knew he would see him again when he was ready and as Clark admits he can't forget his past, Jonathan gives him his final words of guidance.
The Planet, Apokolips
He tells him that Clark has become the man who he was meant to be and that he must return to Jor-El for guidance as they have done all that they can. Martha walks up the stairs and tells Clark that this has been coming for a long time. She reaffirms to him that he is the world’s much needed miracle; at this, Clark goes to embrace the trial to come as Jonathan and Martha gaze at Apokolips.
Tess Mercer wakes up on a table inside of a laboratory. Lionel Luthor greets her as she awakens and tells her that he has underestimated her. After revealing that Lex Luthor had took his imperfect clones' best pieces and put them together to create a "masterwork", Lionel tells her that her ultimate purpose here is to give Lex that which he could not recreate: a working heart.
While Clark finds Tess’ phone in her car using his X-ray vision, Lionel tells Tess that she put herself in this position, and that Lex means everything to him. As they attempt to remove her heart, she escapes from captivity. But before she flees the lab, shoots Lionel in the chest. As Lionel drags himself towards Lex, Darkseid appears and Lionel offers him all that he has in order to save Lex. Darkseid declares that it will be done, in exchange for Lionel’s soul. Lionel is engulfed in a black smoke and as his eyes glow red, his heart is taken from his chest.
Lex suddenly wakes and removes the mask from his face.
In Metropolis, the people look in terror at the burning planet in the sky. At the Daily Planet, while Clark tells Lois about the message on Tess’ phone, they discuss the prophecies about this event in history and wonder how to lift the darkness from the infected world. In an attempt to locate Tess, Clark and Lois find the final point where they believe Tess’ kidnapper to be. After discovering the Luthor Mansion was the final location, Clark speeds off after he and Lois reaffirm their love for each other with a kiss. Lois attempts to tell the reporter set to interview the President that she needs to tell the President what is really going on. When she refuses and disapproves of the Blur, she is knocked unconscious by Lois and has her ID badge stolen.
At the mansion, Clark begins to look around when a voice from his past proclaims "Hello, Clark.". Lex reintroduces himself and somewhat explains his return. Lex then tells Clark that it is not family or friends that define who people become, but their enemies. Clark tries to tell Lex that he can change, but instead Lex says that they will both be great men in the world because of each other with Clark on the one side and Lex on the other. Clark tells Lex that he will always be there to stop Lex, and Lex says that he is counting on it and that their story hasn't been written yet. Calling Clark by his birth name Kal-El, Lex tells Clark that he himself can only be as great as Clark becomes. Lex tells him about what he learned in the Veritas journals about Darkseid. Lex tells Clark that they both know who can save the world. Clark apologizes for not being able to save Lex and then abruptly departs, leaving Lex with a sinister smile on his face.
Oliver enters Watchtower and activates all of the computers. He searches for where Darkseid’s trio are hiding and once locating them with his satellites, reclaims his Green Arrow uniform. As Granny Goodness, Desaad and Gordon Godfrey declare their victory, Green Arrow arrives without his Omega symbol to the surprise of the others. Amidst their condemnation and rebuke, he tells them about his belief in Clark and that he will save them. Raising his bow, Green Arrow fires three arrows simultaneously and vanquishes the trio. They disintegrate into clouds of smoke.
Aboard Air Force One, Lois attempts to get past security to speak with the President. She eventually manages to manipulate her way to the room with the Secretary. She tells him that the supposed meteor is really an entire planet and that their plan to stop it with nuclear weapons will result in the deaths of millions of people. Realizing that they know this already, she tells them that the heroes that they have tried to destroy can save them. They agree to give the heroes a chance, but limiting the time to five minutes.
In the Kent barn, as Clark retrieves the console crystal, he is confronted by Darkseid possessing Lionel’s body. Clark says that his destiny is to defeat Darkseid and refuses to submit to his temptations and power. Darkseid flings Clark across the barn, and while in mid-air, upon Clark remembering Jonathan Kent’s final words of guidance, Jor-El intervenes and shows Clark with images of his trials over the past 10 years that he has always had the power inside of him. Jor-El tells him that this is his final trial and that he is ready to seize his destiny. Clark reawakens in the present, floating in the barn staring down Darkseid. He finally embraces his powers and flies into Darkseid, casting him out of his vessel as well as destroying it in the process.
At LuthorCorp tower, Tess confronts Lex in the executive office. Lex reveals that he always knew that she was his sister and that he used her, but Lionel was the one to abuse her. Tess tells Lex that she only wanted what she could never have: redemption. Lex hugs her and tells her that he loves her as he stabs her in the abdomen. He tells her that he is saving her from turning into him, but Tess claims that Clark already did that. After touching Lex on the face with a poisoned glove, she reveals that she has infected Lex with a neurotoxin that he had been developing years earlier at Summerholt. He is told that it will erase all of his memories up until this moment; as she dies, Lex stands up and stands in solitude as all of the memories of his past are erased as the seconds pass by. As the final memory fades, he walks towards the window and stares out at the world. As the view pulls back from Lex standing looking out the window, an explosion "destroys" the LuthorCorp building, leaving behind the shattered framework which loosely spells "LexCorp".
At the Fortress of Solitude, Clark is embraced by Jor-El’s presence. Jor-El tells him that his journey has come to an end and that he is proud of him for embracing his heritage and who he is. He tells his son that he is the only one that can lift the darkness from the Earth. He returns the Superman suit to the surface and gives Clark his final words of wisdom, to not forget that even though he has Jor-El’s blood, he must remember his time in Smallville and his Earth parents and friends that made him a hero. Jonathan presents Clark the suit and tells him to always hold on to Smallville. Clark takes it and with a nod to Jonathan, soars into the sky with his suit on and his red cape blowing in the wind finally becoming Superman.
Superman arrives just in time to save the now out of control Air Force One from crashing. He appears to Lois and nods to her, telling her that everything is all right. As he flies off to stop Apokolips from crashing into Earth, Lois takes a camera and after introducing herself, begins to interview the President. Oliver watches on amidst the crowds of Metropolis as the red and blue blur from Superman’s cape flies into the sky and moves the planet away from Earth. Oliver smiles with pride as the people are freed from Darkseid's control thanks to the efforts of his friend. Superman throws the planet into space and faces the world as he embraces his destiny.
Seven years later
In 2018, Chloe Sullivan concludes reading her son the comic book about Superman and puts the boy to sleep. Just as she leaves the bedroom, she receives a call from Lois at the Daily Planet thanking her for sending the "something blue" that is needed.
Lois approaches the office of Perry White, who is now the editor of the Planet. James Bartholomew Olsen (now grown up and working as a photographer) stops her and warns that it is a bad idea right now to speak to White, who is on the phone tirading about Lex Luthor. Olsen then shows Lois his snapshots of Superman, but she charges him to get better pictures, telling him that he has his brother's big shoes to fill but that she knows he can do it. They then leaves abruptly when White starts scolding her to get back to work.
On a TV broadcast, Lex Luthor has just been elected the President of the United States, wearing a white suit as he turns to embrace power over the nation and world that he now seemingly controls.
Clark bumblingly runs into Lois and knocks her stuff out of her hands. She tells him that he can stop acting clumsy as no one is looking, and asks if he has their wedding rings. She asks if he is ready and he says that he has been ready for seven years, just as they are alerted to the news that a bomb has been found in an elevator uptown. Clark tells Lois to tell the minister he'll be a few minutes late to their wedding ceremony. Lois says she'll be waiting for him as she encourages him to go off and save the day. Clark departs for the roof, and looks around at the world and begins to pull open his shirt, revealing the red and yellow House of El family crest, as he goes off to save the day as Superman.
Press Release[]
Promotional picture
The story of a young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) and his journey to become the Man of Steel has captivated audiences for a decade. This final season, Clark attempts to find a balance between saving the world, which becomes even more difficult as the Vigilante Registration Act separates a nation, and spending time with his new fiancée Lois Lane. Whether it's donning glasses as a disguise, changing in a phone booth or learning how to fly, this season has put Clark closer to his destiny than ever before. Taking on Darkseid and battling the darkest of his demons, this two-hour event will send Clark soaring towards his birthright to secure his place in history as the world's greatest protector.
"Paying homage to 10 seasons is no small task, and wrapping up each character and story arc has been extremely important to everyone involved in the show," said executive producers Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders. "We’re excited to be able to make the final moments of Smallville a television event, as the character we’ve grown up with makes his legendary transformation."
SMALLVILLE was developed for television by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (“Shanghai Noon,” “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”), based on the DC Comics characters. Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson serve as executive producers, along with James Marshall, Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins, Joe Davola and Tom Welling. The series is produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions, Millar/Gough Ink and Warner Bros. Television. SUPERMAN was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.[1]
O'Toole only appears in the first part while Rosenbaum, Glover, Ashmore and Stamp appear in the second part and Schneider appears in both parts.
Although Clark appears to be wearing the Superman suit (at least in part), the "no tights, no flights" rule remained at least partially intact:
In scenes where Clark needed to wear the suit, the suit clearly appears CGI. If so, then producers maintained the first half of the rule. However, there is some debate as to whether Tom Welling ever put on any part of the Superman suit.
Clark is shown hovering near the end, then flies directly through Darkseid (in Lionel-2's body). Thus, the second half of the rule, "no flights" was broken.
