“Always hold on to Smallville.” It is a line quoted by Jonathan Kent in the series finale of Smallville, a show that ran for 10 seasons on the WB/CW and starred Tom Welling.

Welling has taken that to heart and told fans present at his Fan Expo Vancouver 2020 panel that he wants to uphold the legacy of the show.

“It is really important to me. I don’t want to let down the fans,” he told the audience.

Talk turned to Welling’s appearance in this year’s Arrowverse cross-over Crisis on Infinite Earths. While intially reluctant, Welling liked what the cross-over did with his Clark Kent. Welling liked how the writers let him be with Lois and that he was channeling Jonathan Kent in the mannerism and how Clark presented himself down to the yellow gloves.

He added he loved being back on the Kent Farm set in Aldergrove as it brought back some great memories of filming Smallville. 

“[Vancouver] is a great city to work in. Within 45 minutes, you get to be in a different location.”

Other Crisis memories include Welling really enjoying working with Jon Cryer, calling him and interesting and funny dude. He added that he really enjoyed going up to Cryer to say that he wasn’t Lex. “Clark didn’t care who they were, he was just a happily married man.”

Speaking of the Arrowverse, Welling recalled a time when he later met with Stephen Amell and joked that when they reboot Arrow it will be about Oliver Queen in high school.

When asked if he knew how Clark gave up his powers (was it gold kryptonite or something else?), Welling didn’t know but wished he asked the writers. But Welling liked to believe that Lois was really all the motivation he needed to give up his powers.

A lot of Smallville memories were shared with Welling flashing that beautiful smile of his throughout.

When asked what his favourite arc was, Welling immediately said that the Blur arc was not one of them but his honest answer was the Pilot.

“It was well executed, sets up the series and still resonates with me,” he added.

Another arc he liked was when the show brought in Lois Lane saying that the character was a “breath of fresh air and brought in fresh energy.”

Welling also wished the show brought in Bruce Wayne as he would loved to have seen him cross-paths with Lex. 

Other memories that Welling shared include a time when filming in Whistler for a Fortress of Solitude scenes, that a runaway snowmobile was about to crash into one of the filming helicopters and he just stood by while Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex, leapt over him to stop the snowmobile from crashing into the helicopters.

He also shared his favourite prank he did on Rosenbaum and that was making him unnecessarily wear a green screen leotard and made him do unnecessary things in them.

The panel also touched on Welling’s roles outside of Smallville including Marcus Pierce/Cain in Lucifer and said his character was about doing the opposite of Tom Ellis’ Lucifer and be more of the parent.

Other roles that Welling liked include Draft Day and Parkland, the latter a movie about that focuses on the doctors, nurses and secret service agents on the day of Kennedy’s assassination. One role that Welling encouraged fans to stay away from? The Fog. He calls the remake bad and one of his embarrassing roles. One role he wouldn’t mind revisiting is Charlie Baker from Cheaper by the Dozen. Welling imagines a third movie would be about his character about to become a father and all the family coming to help.

As for doing a potential reunion of Smallville, Welling isn’t so sure but he is up to providing the voice if anyone decided to animate the season 11 comics that came out after the show ended. He added that he would need some voice acting lessons from seasoned veteran Rosenbaum, who voices the Flash in DC Comics animation films.

As for future projects, Welling just wrapped up a 10-episode TV show that he filmed in South Africa that co-stars fellow Fan Expo Vancouver 2020 guest, Brendan Fraser. Welling describes the show as a cross between “Ocean’s 11 and the A-Team.” The show is still looking for a home.

As the panel started winding down, a fan asked what was Welling’s favourite trait of a super hero, he replied ”

“Compassion is the most important personality trait of a hero. Real strength comes from compassion as it makes everyone stronger.”