Crisis producer explains that surprising Smallville twist for Tom Welling’s Clark Kent

Did you see that super-twist coming? Night 2 of Crisis on Infinite Earths brought plenty of surprises, but one reveal put a wild new wrinkle into the end of previous hit series Smallville.

As the Arrowverse heroes head off into the multiverse to find a fresh team of heroes to try and stave off the end of all reality, they stumble into a universe that should be very familiar to fans from the old The WB days. The new versions of Superman and Clark Kent pop up in the world of Smallville, and find a version of Tom Welling’s Clark Kent chopping wood and living the country life on the classic Kent Farm.

But we find out something interesting when Lex Luthor shows up to kill him with a block of Kryptonite — Welling’s Clark chose to give up his powers in the decade since his show ended, hanging up the tights to quietly raise a family with his Lois Lane. He shows he still has a mean right hook when Lex takes a swing at him, but it’s a regular guy punch — no superpowers required.

So what went into that decision to have Welling’s Clark retired and “regular” in the Smallville future? Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries, who was a former Smallville writer, told Entertainment Weekly it felt like a natural conclusion to have Welling’s Clark realize the place he always belonged really was the Kent Farm with his own family.

“We had conversations about how to best see Tom again,” Dries said. “We knew that we really wanted Brandon Routh as Clark Kent in the Daily Planet. I think the Tom Welling Clark Kent that we all kind of picture when we think of him is Clark on the farm. So, it made sense. The farm is still there. It all felt very 10 years ago in a great way. To us, it just felt natural that that’s kind of his natural environment where we’d see him.”

Producer March Guggenheim added that Welling also loved the idea: “He basically said to me, ‘You guys have basically written the one scene that I can’t say no to,’ which was really really nice.” The scene ends with Welling’s Clark walking off into the sunset with Lois to check in on their children back at the farm house. No red skies there, at least not yet, so the Smallville universe remains intact. For now.

Crisis continues tonight on The CW with a new episode, then goes on hiatus until January.