The Justice League is a group of superheroes on the television series Smallville, who were adapted for television by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The Justice League originally included Oliver Queen, Bart Allen, Victor Stone, and Arthur Curry; Clark Kent did not accept a role until three seasons later. As the team continued to appear in the series, new characters were introduced and subsequently joined the team. The original Justice League first appeared in the DC comic book The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960), and consisted of members Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. In Smallville, the team did not make its first official appearance until the season six episode "Justice", although each member had been previously introduced individually on various episodes since season four. In the series, the team never formalized a name for themselves, although the cast and crew officially recognized the team as the "Justice League".
Series' writers wanted to make sure the characters had similar characteristics to their comic book counterparts, but at the same time, could become a means for Clark to learn about himself. The creative team attempted to stay true to the spirit of the comic in costume design for certain characters, while costumes for other characters were changed dramatically. All of the characters possess superpowers, with the exception of Oliver, so Entity FX was brought in to digitally create each character's powers using 3D and 2D technologies.
In addition to the live-action television series, the Justice League has also been featured in a promotional tie-in with Toyota, through an interactive, online comic book. On an individual level, Oliver received his own tie-in that provided Sprint users with animated episodes depicting Oliver's backstory on their mobile phones. Overall, the reception for the characters has been mixed. Critics have viewed Alan Ritchson's (Arthur) acting ability and the shortened introductory storylines for the team negatively, while the characters of Oliver and Black Canary were viewed more positively.
Roles in Smallville Individual storylines Although the Justice League first appeared in season six's "Justice", each member had their own introduction and recurring storylines in the series prior to the formation of the team. The first member to appear on Smallville, other than Clark Kent (Tom Welling), was Bart Allen (Kyle Gallner), who was introduced in the season four episode "Run". In the episode, Bart is the first person Clark discovers to have a superhuman ability—being able to run at supersonic speeds—that was not created from exposure to kryptonite. When Clark and Bart first meet, Bart is a pickpocket who saves Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) from being hit by a truck. Eventually, Clark convinces Bart to give up his life of crime. Arthur Curry (Alan Ritchson), who has the ability to swim at superhuman speeds and create energy blasts through the water, is next to appear in the season five episode "Aqua". Arthur arrives in Smallville to stop an underwater weapon developed by Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), which is killing the surrounding ocean life. Arthur and Clark initially clash on Arthur's tactics; Arthur tries to blow up Lex's lab, while Clark insists that they should simply talk to Lex face-to-face and ask him to stop. Eventually, Arthur and Clark locate and destroy the weapon outright. Season five also introduced Victor Stone (Lee Thompson Young) in the episode "Cyborg". Here, it is revealed that Victor was mortally wounded in a car accident that also took the lives of his family, but Lex's company, LuthorCorp, took Victor's body to a research lab where they experimented on him, ultimately replacing his bone skeleton with a metal one. Clark attempts to provide Victor with a safe haven after Victor escapes from Lex's facility. Clark manages to convince Lex to stop hunting Victor, who eventually leaves Smallville with his girlfriend.
Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley), a billionaire who left Star City to live in Metropolis, arrives in the season six episode "Sneeze" to investigate Lex Luthor. In the episode "Arrow", Oliver begins masquerading around Metropolis as a costumed vigilante, named "Green Arrow" by Lois Lane (Erica Durance), who robs from the rich—only taking objects he knows were already stolen by those wealthy individuals—and gives to the poor. Oliver also begins a romantic relationship with Lois. Eventually, Oliver's vigilante life takes priority, and he and Lois break up when Oliver is forced to leave town to investigate more of Lex's machinations. In season eight's premiere, Oliver moves back to Metropolis, and begins searching for Lex, who has been missing since the season seven finale. Oliver believes he has tracked Lex's whereabouts in the episode "Bride", but he does not find Lex when he arrives; instead, Oliver reveals that he plans to kill Lex when he does find him because of the threat he perceives Lex poses to both Clark and the rest of the world. In the episode "Requiem", Oliver takes controlling interest in LuthorCorp after Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman), Lex's handpicked successor for LuthorCorp, sells him the company. As a result, Lex attempts to kill him. Oliver tracks Lex down and blows-up the medical caravan that Lex was supposedly traveling in.
John Jones (Phil Morris) is also introduced in season six, where he appears in "Labyrinth", guiding Clark out of a fictitious reality that was created by Dr. Hudson, a Phantom Zone criminal attempting to take over Clark's body. It is revealed in the season's finale that he has been working with Lionel Luthor (John Glover), and was once an emissary of Clark's biological father, Jor-El. John explains that he has been watching over Clark since his arrival on Earth, instructed by Jor-El only to interfere if Clark's life was in true danger. In the season seven premiere, John lends assistance to Clark in defeating the last of the Phantom Zone criminals, which turned itself into Clark's doppelganger. In the season eight premiere, John sacrifices his own abilities to save Clark's life. In season eight's "Prey", John informs Clark that he has taken a job as a Metropolis police detective so that he can be around if Clark needs assistance. In season nine's "Absolute Justice", John has his Martian powers restored by Dr. Fate (Brent Stait) and then helps Clark and other members of the Justice Society of America defeat a mutual enemy.
Justice League storylines The Justice League made its first official team appearance in the season six episode "Justice". Here, Clark discovers that Oliver has also met Bart, Arthur, and Victor, and that he has organized them into a team of superheroes focused on stopping those who believe that they are above the law. Oliver reveals that Lex has been conducting experiments on people who developed special abilities thanks to exposure to kryptonite. Clark and Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) work alongside the team to dismantle Lex's local experimental facility, known as Level 33.1, and after destroying the building, Oliver and his team leave Smallville to seek out Lex's other facilities around the world. Oliver asks Clark to become a full-fledged member of the team, but Clark turns Oliver down explaining that he is not ready to do that. In the season seven episode "Siren", Lex puts a bounty on Oliver and his team, convincing the vigilante Dinah Lance (Alaina Huffman), who goes by the name "Black Canary" and has the ability to emit an ultrasonic sound wave with a single scream, that these individuals are terrorists. In the end, Clark proves to Dinah that Lex lied to her, so she decides to join Oliver's team. In the season eight premiere, the Justice League set out to find Clark, who has disappeared following the destruction of his Fortress of Solitude in the previous season's finale. Clark is eventually found, but the true identities of the League's members are compromised, so the team decides to disband until it is safe again for them to work together. In the season eight episode "Hex", Oliver reforms his team and gives Chloe the role of "Watchtower". In that season's finale, it is revealed that the League has been tracking the genetically engineered Kryptonian known as Doomsday. Oliver tries to convince Clark to kill the creature, but Clark refuses and instead informs Dinah and Bart that Oliver murdered Lex, while simultaneously kicking Oliver off of the team. Using subterfuge, Dinah and Bart betray Clark, revealing that they were in agreement with Oliver's plan all along, and capture Doomsday to force Clark into a fight. Their plan backfires, and Doomsday injures all of them during his escape. In the end, Clark defeats the creature by burying him a mile underground, and Oliver and his team apologize for not following Clark's plan from the start. The League leaves Metropolis afterward, feeling responsible for the death of Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore), who was killed after Doomsday escaped. In response, Chloe turns a Metropolis clock tower, which is also the tallest building in the city, into the Watchtower base with the hope that the team will one day return home. The team eventually reforms off screen, and assists Clark in hunting down other Kryptonians who are attempting to take over the Earth. Starting with the ninth episode of the final season, "Patriot", the Justice League are alerted to the arrival of Darkseid, and for the rest of the season they attempt to stop him before he destroys Earth. Subsequent episodes "Dominion" and "Prophecy" also imply that Michael Carter (Booster Gold) and Kara have joined the team.
Portrayals
The producers wanted to use either Wally West or Barry Allen as the Flash alter ego for the show, but DC Comics would only approve the use of Bart Allen. In DC Comics, Bart typically goes by the codename of "Impulse", but did have a short series in 2006 where he took over the role of Flash. Kyle Gallner learned through his agent about a superhero role being called for on Smallville, and when he learned that it was going to be Impulse, he convinced himself that he was going to win the role. Gallner went in for two auditions, but was so disappointed with his performance during the second audition that he believed he had failed to get the role. His fear was unfounded when the producers offered him the part.Byrne, Craig, (Season 4 Companion), pg. 142
After being cast as Arthur Curry, a character who had previously never been officially portrayed in any live-action form, Alan Ritchson did some research on his character when he discovered that Aquaman had a "serious...fan base". Ritchson wanted to live up to the expectations he felt fans of the character would have. Like Gallner, Ritchson did not expect to be a part of the show again. After season five, there was an attempt to launch an Aquaman television series, which ultimately was never picked up. Ritchson relished the opportunity to return when he was called in to appear in the episode that would feature the first official appearance of the Justice League.