Sure, the series may have had its ups and downs over its ten-season run, but The CW’s Smallville was and is a huge favourite of many a genre fan. Having seen Tom Welling’s Clark Kent go through a voyage of discovery that ultimately ended at the moment he first put on the famed cape and tights, many were clamouring for more of Welling as the Man of Steel. Well, it looks as if the actor is not entirely ruling out the possibility of becoming Superman once more.

Given how the ominous shadow of Superman hangs teasingly in the background of CBS’ Supergirl, the actor was asked by Buzzfeed about whether he’d be open to returning as the Big Blue Boy Scout should the chance arise. Welling said, “There’s people who would like it, there’s people who don’t like it, but I will you that no one has ever asked me to do it. So, I don’t know. It would be kind of odd. I don’t know who he is at that point. He would obviously be Superman.”

His “be Superman” line is obviously in reference to the fact that the actor spent ten years playing Clark Kent on his road to becoming Superman before he finally realised his destiny in the show’s final episode. For a huge amount of time, fans were clamouring for Welling to take his small screen role to the big screen, with a plethora of awesome fan art out there featuring the actor as Superman. When Bryan Singer was looking for his titular Superman Returns lead, that was arguably when the noise for Welling as Supes was at its loudest. Ultimately, though, fans had to wait until the final moments of the final episode of the final season of Smallville to see Tom Welling don the iconic suit, although even then large parts of the action were CGI.

It was around about this time last year, however, that rumours started to swirl that Welling could turn up as Superman in The CW’s Flash. Now, with Supergirl on the air and semi-regularly featuring the presence of Kal-El, fans are championing Welling to return to his most famous role. After all, this is a show that isn’t afraid to turn to what’s gone before it, with former Superman Dean Cain and former Supergirl Helen Slater playing the Earth parents of Kara Zor-El.

Whether Tom Welling ever does return to the Clark Kent/Superman role remains to be seen – it certainly doesn’t seem like the actor has ruled it out – but it would be a huge moment for long-time genre fans to see Welling finally in full-on Superman gear for a decent amount of time.

As ever, expect more on this if and when it develops.