Rumors persisted for years that Smallville intended for Ian Somerhalder's season 3 character to be a young Bruce Wayne. Here's how that myth started.
For years, there have been rumors that Ian Somerhalder was supposed to play Batman on Smallville. Over the course of the show’s ten-season run, Tom Welling’s Clark crossed paths with multiple important figures from DC Comics, but the Caped Crusader certainly wasn’t one of them. However, that doesn’t mean attempts weren’t made to get him on the show.
It’s been rumored since the early 2000s that DC stood in the way of Smallville using Somerhalder’s character to introduce Batman. Due in large part to Adam Knight possessing impressive, unexplained martial arts skills and an air of mystery, there was intense speculation that Lana’s new season 3 love interest was secretly Bruce Wayne. Fueling these theories was the moment when Adam told Lana that his parents died. Interestingly, these rumors didn’t die even when Adam turned out to be a villain and a liver disease victim brought back to life by a serum made from Clark’s blood. After that, it was said that Smallville truly did intend for Somerhalder to play a younger version of Bruce Wayne, but DC forced the producers to change its plans for the character.
Admittedly, his martial arts experience, backstory, and mysterious personality did make a Batman reveal in Smallville season 3 seem feasible when he was introduced. And the series seemingly rushing his arc and doing an about-face with his character supported the notion that the show made some last-minute adjustments to his story. But according to the Smallville season 3 companion book, Adam turning out to be Bruce Wayne was never part of the plan. That being said, it is true that Smallville changed directions with his character. Apparently, the science fiction elements of his storyline are what led to Adam Knight’s Smallville arc ending so abruptly.
While there’s no concrete evidence linking Ian Somerhalder’s character to Batman, the producers definitely did want Batman on Smallville. This has been acknowledged more than a few times by those involved with the series. Interest in incorporating him into Clark’s story goes all the way back to season 2, as co-creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar said in an interview that years ago, they “put it out in the press” that they wanted to use Batman, believing that this might lead to DC letting them use the character, but of course, it was to no avail. Gough said that they tried several times to include him, but DC refused in each instance because of their movie plans.
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