When Smallville premiered in 2001, it completely rewrote the rulebook for superhero television, leading to a string of imitators. Instead of costumes and cosmic stakes, the beloved DC series focused on relationships, secrets, and the emotional weight of growing up different. Indeed, Smallville refined a formula that would dominate superhero TV for years.
Smallville fostered a perfect combination of teen drama, serialized storytelling, and a “freak of the week” structure. Importantly, it rooted all of these in character development. Its enormous success proved that audiences didn’t need capes every episode; they needed investment in long-term arcs.
Smallville also demonstrated how genre elements could be grounded in familiar settings like high schools and small towns, making the extraordinary feel personal. As a result, networks spent the next two decades chasing that balance of youthful angst, mythology-building, and slow-burn hero origins. While they varied in tone, they were all clearly reacting to the template Smallville perfected.
Birds Of Prey (2002–2003)
Ashley Scott poses as Helena Kyle a.k.a. Huntress in the Birds of Prey show
Birds of Prey was one of the earliest attempts to replicate Smallville’s appeal within another corner of DC’s universe. The series transplanted the coming-of-age superhero drama into Gotham City, focusing on Helena Kyle and Dinah Lance as young women inheriting legacies they barely understood. Like Smallville, it emphasized secrets, romantic tension, and personal identity over spectacle.
However, Birds of Prey leaned far darker, reflecting Batman’s mythos rather than Superman’s optimism. Birds of Prey framed its heroes as damaged and isolated. They struggled with trauma rather than destiny.
Its low-budget effects and uneven tone ultimately limited Birds of Prey’s impact, but the intent was clear. It offered a similarly grounded, character-driven superhero series centered on young leads finding their place in a dangerous world. While short-lived, Birds of Prey remains a fascinating early example of DC trying to adapt the Smallville formula beyond Metropolis.
The Flash (2014-2023)
Grant Gustin as Barry Allen in The Flash speaking
When The Flash debuted, it felt like Smallville’s DNA had been fully modernized. The series embraced a classic “freak of the week” structure, with metahumans replacing meteor mutants. Yet importantly, it still prioritized emotional arcs and long-term mythology.
Barry Allen’s journey mirrored Clark Kent’s in key ways: a fundamentally good-hearted hero learning responsibility, guided by mentors, and defined by personal loss. Tonally, The Flash often felt like a grown-up Smallville. It managed to balance earnestness with humor and romance rather than leaning into cynicism.
Team Flash functioned as a more explicit version of Smallville’s supporting cast. It reinforced the idea that heroism is communal rather than solitary. While The Flash eventually became more overtly comic-book in its spectacle, its early seasons thrived on the same mix of serialized drama and episodic threats that made Smallville a long-running success.
Aquaman (Pilot) (2006)
Justin Hartley in the Aquaman Pilot
No project embodies the “next Smallville” ambition more directly than the attempted Aquaman series. The unaired WB pilot was developed by Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Starring Justin Hartley as Arthur “A.C.” Curry, it follows a young man in a Florida Keys beach community as he slowly discovers his powers and royal destiny as the future king of Atlantis.
The concept grew explicitly out of Smallville’s season 5 episode “Aqua.” The episode featured Arthur Curry (played by action A-lister Alan Ritchson) stopping a LuthorCorp underwater weapons project. While “Aqua” wasn’t intended as a backdoor pilot, it became Smallville’s highest-rated episode that season.
“Aqua” revealed a strong interest in the character, though it would have diverted from the Smallville episode. Regardless, the proposed series leaned heavily into the Smallville template: secrets, destiny, romance, and a reluctant hero far from his throne. Despite strong visuals and ambition, the full Aquaman series wasn’t commissioned, leaving only that tantalizing pilot.
Titans (2018-2023)
Beast Boy, Raven, Robin, and Starfire standing together in the DC TV show Titans (2018-2023)
Titans represents a more aggressive evolution of the Smallville model, pushing its teen drama roots into distinctly adult territory. Centered on young heroes like Dick Grayson, Raven, and Starfire, the series framed superpowers as sources of trauma rather than wonder. Much like Smallville, Titans focused on identity, found family, and the fear of becoming something monstrous.
Unlike Smallville, Titans stripped away most of the optimism. The ensemble structure feels like an expansion of Smallville’s later seasons, where Clark was surrounded by other heroes navigating their own paths. However, Titans replaced slow-burning romance and small-town warmth with violence, angst, and moral ambiguity.
Importantly, Titans still relied on serialized storytelling and emotional arcs over episodic plots. This exemplifies how deeply Smallville’s character-first philosophy had embedded itself in superhero TV. Albeit filtered through a much darker, more cynical lens than the perennially optimistic Smallville.
Arrow (2012-2020)
Stephen Amell wears his Green Arrow hood and mask in the Arrowverse
Arrow succeeded where many Smallville imitators failed by updating the formula for a more adult audience without abandoning its core strengths. Oliver Queen’s journey echoed Clark Kent’s slow transformation into a symbol. It likewise boasted secrets, dual identities, and emotionally driven flashbacks that replaced the meteor mutants.
Vitally, Arrow prioritized serialized storytelling, long-term consequences, and grounded drama. While comic-book theatrics were always present, it was invariably in service of the narrative. Like Smallville, Arrow also aimed for bigger than a single hero, eventually spawning an entire shared universe of interconnected series as Smallville had hoped.
In many ways, the Arrowverse became what Smallville gestured toward but never fully achieved: a sprawling television franchise built around gradual hero evolution. While darker and more violent, Arrow retained Smallville’s belief that superhero stories work best when audiences care deeply about the person behind the mask.
My Adventures With Superman (2023-)
Jimmy and Lois looking at Superman and Supergirl floating in My Adventures with Superman season 2 finale
At first glance, My Adventures With Superman looks worlds away from Smallville, trading live-action angst for colorful animation and heightened expressions. Yet beneath the style, it arguably feels like one of the most faithful continuations of Smallville’s core philosophy. The series re-centers Superman as a young man still figuring out who he is and where he belongs.
Much like Smallville, Clark is still learning how to balance love, friendship, and responsibility. Clark’s relationship with Lois echoes Smallville’s early seasons, emphasizing emotional intimacy and mutual growth over destiny-driven romance. Even the slow drip of Kryptonian mythology mirrors Smallville’s deliberate pacing.
Answers are only revealed as Clark matures. By prioritizing character, relationships, and self-discovery over spectacle, My Adventures With Superman proves that Smallville’s formula can adapt seamlessly across subsequent generations and formats. While it forged its own identity, My Adventures With Superman feels like Smallville’s next step.
Superman & Lois (2021–2024)
Superman and Lois Lane looking at each other in the Superman & Lois finale
Of all the shows influenced by Smallville, the Arrowverse’s Superman & Lois feels the closest to a spiritual successor. Rather than retelling Clark Kent’s origin, the series explored the next stage of his life, focusing on family, responsibility, and legacy. The Smallville setting itself returned, reinforcing the idea that the town was never just a backdrop.
Smallville (in both regards) was central to Clark’s identity. Lois & Clark also blended grounded emotional drama with heightened superhero stakes, echoing Smallville’s best seasons while benefiting from modern production values. Themes of secrecy, adolescence, and parental fear mirrored Clark’s own journey years earlier, now reflected through his sons.
Clark’s shift to a father particularly highlighted the same small-town vibe that Smallville flaunted so effectively. Tonally, Superman & Lois often felt like a mature continuation of Smallville’s worldview. It proved the original formula still worked decades later when applied with restraint and emotional sincerity.
Gotham (2014-2019)
James Gordon Talks With Young Bruce Wayne in Gotham TV Show
Gotham applied the Smallville formula to Batman’s world by exploring the hero’s journey from childhood to adulthood long before the cape and cowl appeared. Centered on a young Bruce Wayne, the series combined coming-of-age themes with early superhero mythology. Like Smallville, it treated trauma, identity, and destiny as slow-burning arcs rather than instant transformations.
Related
10 A-List Stars You Didn’t Know Played Batman
Batman has been played by far more A-list stars than many fans might realize, from Marvel heroes to Oscar nominees across animation and audio.
Similar to Smallville, Gotham balanced teen drama and emotional development with a loose monster-of-the-week structure. It introduced exaggerated criminals and future villains who gradually fed into a larger serialized narrative. However, where Smallville leaned warm and hopeful, Gotham was unapologetically gothic and gloomy.
Gotham embraced corruption, madness, and moral decay. Its heightened tone and noir aesthetic made it far darker than its predecessor, but the core idea remained familiar. It built a legendary hero by first letting them grow in front of the audience.
Kyle XY (2006-2009)
The cast of Kyle XY grouped together
Kyle XY may lack capes or costumes, but its storytelling DNA is unmistakably Smallville-inspired. The series centered on a mysterious teenage boy with extraordinary abilities, no memory, and a destiny slowly revealed over time. All of this was presented with the same suburban, family-oriented setting.
Like Clark Kent, Kyle was defined by innocence, moral clarity, and the fear of being exposed. Each episode balanced mystery-of-the-week elements with serialized mythology and emotional growth. The show leaned heavily into found family dynamics, echoing Smallville’s emphasis on the Kents as much as Clark himself.
Even without superhero branding, Kyle XY proved how influential Smallville’s structure had become. It offered a clear example of how networks attempted to replicate their success by stripping the formula down to its most human elements. Though short-lived, Kyle XY earned similar acclaim.
Teen Wolf (2011-2017)
Dylan O’Brien and Tyler Posey standing next to each other in Teen Wolf
MTV’s Teen Wolf modernized the 1980s comedy by filtering it through the Smallville template. The series embraced a “freak of the week” format in its early seasons, pairing supernatural threats with a comparable high school drama, romance, and identity struggles. Further, Scott McCall’s journey echoed Clark Kent’s in key ways.
Scott is a reluctant hero defined by empathy, learning to control powers that complicate his normal life. Over time, Teen Wolf expanded its mythology and ensemble cast, much like Smallville did as it introduced more heroes and villains. While darker and more horror-driven, the show relied on the same emotional hooks.
It still spotlighted friendship, loyalty, and secrecy – key themes that made Smallville resonate. In doing so, Teen Wolf proved that the Smallville formula wasn’t limited to DC or superheroes, but to teen-focused genre storytelling as a whole. It shows just how much of a legacy Smallville truly left behind.
Release Date
2001 – 2011
Directors
Mike Rohl, Jeannot Szwarc, Glen Winter, Terrence O’Hara, Whitney Ransick, Mairzee Almas, Paul Shapiro, Rick Rosenthal, David Carson, James L. Conway, Chris Long, Michael Katleman, Morgan Beggs, Allison Mack, David Barrett, Marita Grabiak, Michael W. Watkins, Philip Sgriccia, Rick Wallace, Thomas J. Wright, Todd Slavkin, Brad Turner, Charles Beeson, Craig Zisk
Writers
Steven S. DeKnight, Holly Henderson, Don Whitehead, Caroline Dries, Mark Verheiden, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Philip Levens, Jordan Hawley, Kenneth Biller, Michael Green, Drew Z. Greenberg, Geoff Johns, John Chisholm, Drew Landis, Julia Swift, Doris Egan, Tracy Bellomo, Garrett Lerner, Greg Walker, Russel Friend, Shintaro Shimosawa, Tim Schlattmann, todd helbing
