This season really does have tons of possibilities, and after speaking with the new executive producers - Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer â I think they get it and have some great ideas.
If youâre a fan of âSmallville,â youâll really enjoy this interview. Look for an interview with the other new executive producers Brian Wayne Peterson and Kelly Souders later tonight.
Todd Slavkin: Great to meet you guys, thank you for being so kind to the show. We were tellingâ¦the media has been really awesome. The press has been great and we donât take that for granted.
So whatâs it like getting keys to the kingdom?
Todd Slavkin: So fun. Itâs great. Itâs better than an E ticket at
Darren Swimmer: What theyâve established works.
Todd Slavkin: Yeah, and itâs great. And the rhythm of the show and all that stuff. Weâre not going to change that, you know? Itâs cool.
Iâm just curious, I asked the executive producers earlier the fact that you guys are having such cast changes, to me, actually invigorates the show because you guys with different actors you can see different things. Can you talk about what youâre planning on doing with some of the characters?
Darren Swimmer: Absolutely, yeah. Tess Mercier is going to be a really interesting character. Sheâs got a lot of layers. Sheâs somewhat of a chameleon and sheâs many different people all at once. You never really know who she really is. Cassidy Freeman came into that role day 1, first dailies off the floor she nailed it. Weâre incredibly lucky to have found her. Sheâs going to be a huge star and she really brings what Michael Rosenbaum brought to the role which isâ¦.all of the innuendo and all of the different layers of things and double meanings and delivering every line with a certain amount of like double edged sword kind ofâ¦
Todd Slavkin: Donât mess with her. Sheâll kick your ass.
I guess I was also more looking at the fact that until the season finale, you guys always had to deal with the Lex/Clark/Lana situation and now that dynamic has basically been removed so thereâs not always this love triangle thing going on. So I wanted to know how does that free you up?
Todd Slavkin: Well, thereâs new triangles. Thatâs whatâs great about it, right? Because the triangles are only getting crispier as we go along. She is searching for Lex. Thatâs kind of her MO. Where is Lex Luther?
Darren Swimmer: She doesnât believe heâs dead.
Todd Slavkin: She doesnât believe heâs dead for a second and he disappeared in the Arctic, well eventually sheâs going to find out guess who else was in the
Darren Swimmer:
Todd Slavkin:
Darren Swimmer: Yeah, thereâs a lot of richness that we can do when you write. Itâs fun to play these different dynamics with new characters.
How do you approach writing new characters based on existing characters? You know they exist in the comic world and then you combine the two. Is there added pressure to that? Is DC fine with something like that and obviously we all know how the story ends. So how far do you take something like that?
Todd Slavkin: Well, Tess Mercer is our own. So DC, itâs not Miss Tessmacher and itâs not Mercy, so weâve really created this woman on our own. Miss Tessmacher in the movies is so goofy and itâs not Valerie Perrine and Parker Posey. Thatâs not what weâre going for at all. But just the name and the allegiance to Lex, thatâs what clued us in. With Mercy, Mercy is this kick-ass woman and Mercy is a fighter and Mercy is a survivor and thatâs really a lot of what Tess is all about. So itâs neither based really on the 2 of them, we just kind of took the names a little bit and then itâs fresh. So DC has been awesome. DC has been like with Doomsday we were worried, are they going to give us Doomsday? They trust us. Weâve done this for 7 years. We have a lot of reverence and respect for these characters and at the same time we make them a âSmallvilleâ twist, you know, Lex Lutherâ¦.thatâs a new Lex Luther. You know Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey is very different. Rosenbaum was able to create this character that was so 3 dimensional and had so much depth that you donât see in the other versions.
Darren Swimmer: DC is our collaborator. Itâs not like thereâs DC and thereâs âSmallvilleâ and itâsâ¦they see every script. We talk with them. They give us suggestions. Thereâs not a lot of like you must do this because that has to conform to the comics. We have a reverence for the comics and I think itâs fun tryingâ¦.you know without the legacy of the comics there would be no show and youâre right, itâs interesting to write something where you know the ending and I think that itâs a great sort of creative puzzle to make all these new original stories blossom out of this small period of time that weâre working with in the comics.
How long would you like to see the show go on for?
Darren Swimmer: As long as it can go.
Todd Slavkin: We have a lot more stories to tell. I think peopleâyouâll see in season 8 when you start watching the showâit feels fresh. Weâre not cribbing like hereâs a Green Arrow origin and we have Maxima from the DC universe. We have Plastic from the DC universe. We have great Lois and Clark stories that will feel fresh and will not feel like youâve seen it on previous shows. I want to tell you guys more, just because Iâm so excited, but at the same time I donât want to truly spoil it but right now weâre breaking episode 7, just to give you anâ¦.and the first 7 out of the boxâ¦.I really think if youâre a âSmallvilleâ fan then youâll have a smile on your face. Youâll be on that ride.
I was going to say I am a fan of the show and Iâm very excited about this season⦠because just like with âCheersâ, with the defecting replaced, you have to change cast to keep a show going. That being said, are there any characters in the DC universe youâve been wanting to work with and now that youâre thinking okay, letâs go after them and bring them in? Besides the ones youâve already mentioned.
Darren Swimmer: Thereâs the ones that we just wonât be bringing on the show like Batman, obviously.
Todd Slavkin: Martian Manhunterâheâs been on the show. We have a great idea for him this season so heâs in at least 3 episodes, probably more, and he will feel more a part of this Metropolis. We will ground him for a little bit in the show which is really interesting. Heâs a great actor and he has all this knowledge that
Darren Swimmer: There is one DC character that weâve always wanted to do for several seasons and we canât say it because we donât know if weâre going to get the greenâ¦.
Can I get a maybe?
Todd Slavkin: Which one? You can say maybe.
Darren Swimmer: Well itâs a female magician. Starts with a Z.
Todd Slavkin: Yeah, we want to use her. Thatâs kind of it to tell you the truth. Just the thing is we have so many that weâve already established. Like I want to see more Flash. Itâs the Justice League, right? Well, in the premiere because of scheduling, we could get Aquaman, Black Canary, Oliver Queen and they rock. No complaints, but thereâs these other guys. Thereâs Cyborg. Thereâs Impulse. Thereâs other characters that we miss and want on the show but itâs hard because the actors are busy and theyâre doing their thing, but beyond those I donât think thereâs others really.
Darren Swimmer: There will be.
Todd Slavkin: There will be though. There always will.
Iâm also curious, like since you guys are obviously going to go for a season 9, how challenging is it as writers to think about the arc of where the season finale is going to go because it may be the last season. It may not be the last season. So how are you planning for that?
Todd Slavkin: We have alternate endings this season. We know how this season will end if thereâs a season 9, which we hope and weâre keeping our fingers crossed, and we believe there will be. And we have plans if this would be the series finale. So itâs just a matter ofâ¦right now weâre so early in the season that we donât have to adjust yet, you know?
Darren Swimmer: But thereâs an arc that either way, whether itâs the last season which it probably wonât be, or we go onâthereâs still the arcâ¦.the story itâs not like weâre going to kind of have to like re-write and take out our erasers and re-write really fast. Itâs going to be the same basic arc either way.
Todd Slavkin: Yeah.