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‘Smallville’s Best Villain Was Never Lex Luthor
Having aired for an impressive 10 seasons and 217 episodes, Smallville ended in 2011 with a bang as Clark Kent (Tom Welling) finally became Superman. In many ways, Smallville ushered in a new era of superhero television, proving that comic book heroes could in fact still work on the small screen in our modern age. Over a decade, Clark battled many enemies, including his former best friend Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum). Still, despite Lex’s destiny as Clark’s greatest adversary, there is another who rose and took his rightful place as the Man of Steel’s arch-enemy: General Zod.
General Zod Remained a Villain All Throughout ‘Smallville’
Despite the character’s often messy comic book history, General Zod has been one of Superman’s most consistent rogues since his first appearance in 1961’s Adventure Comics #283. Nearly two decades later, the character was re-imagined by director Richard Donner for Superman: The Movie and its immediate sequel, where he was played by Terence Stamp (who, coincidentally, voiced Jor-El on Smallville). Zod only returned to the big screen several decades later for 2013’s Man of Steel, this time played by Michael Shannon, but before that, he made his mark on Smallville.
What’s great about Lex Luthor, his father Lionel (John Glover), and his half-sister Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman) is that they’re all complex characters who teeter between good and evil. For the first half of the series, Lex fights his dark destiny, hoping that Clark can help him overcome his family’s personal darkness. Ultimately, Lex succumbs to his dark side, and thus their eternal rivalry is born. By contrast, Tess and Lionel go from being antagonistic figures (and in Lionel’s case, downright evil) to redeeming themselves as some of Clark’s closest allies before their untimely deaths at Lex’s hand.
There’s no denying that without the Luthors, Smallville wouldn’t have been half as good as it was. They always had the best lines, monologues, and character arcs, and that was by design. On Smallville, just because you’re a Luthor doesn’t mean you’re evil. But where the Luthors (and the Kents, in contrast) are portrayed as normal people navigating an extraordinary world, villains like General Zod possess incredible powers, have a deep hatred for our hero, and elevate Smallville to greater heights. From the first time Zod’s name is uttered in Season 5 to his final appearance in the back half of Season 10, the Kryptonian general is entirely focused on turning Earth into his New Krypton and taking revenge on the famed son of Jor-El.
General Zod’s Villainy Goes Back to the Last Days of Krypton
The way Smallville explains it, General Zod is actually the reason that Krypton was destroyed in the first place, killing not just Clark’s entire biological family (save his paternal cousin), but his entire race as well. After going to war against the Kryptonian Council, Zod built himself an army of devoted followers, corrupted Jor-El’s version of the Brain InterActive Construct (aka James Marsters‘ Brainiac), genetically engineered “the ultimate destroyer” Doomsday (later played by Sam Witwer), and, allied with Jor-El’s brother Zor-El (Christopher Heyerdahl), ignited the planet’s core and caused its destruction. In many ways, Zod is either directly or indirectly responsible for the biggest tragedies in Clark’s life, including the famed meteor shower he arrived in.
For someone who wants the Kryptonian race to thrive, Zod sure has a funny way of showing it. His ultimate goal was to create a New Krypton in his own image and slaughter his own people to do so, hoping that Earth would be a better template for his design. This meant that Doomsday’s goal to wipe out humanity, Brainiac’s mission to corrupt our technology, and even Zor-El’s plan to use cloning as part of the means toward repopulation were all by Zod’s design. While the Smallville mythos can be a bit confusing at times, everything relating to Krypton and alien invaders always finds its roots in the original General Zod.
Because of his crimes, Zod was stripped of his physical body and was sent to the Phantom Zone by Jor-El and the Council. At the end of Season 5/beginning of Season 6, Zod is unwittingly released by Clark, only to possess Lex’s newly superpowered body. Michael Rosenbaum’s performance as Zod is powerful and commands a type of respect that would make even Lex kneel. Up to this point on the show, everything had been leading to this. Two meteor showers, Zod’s disciples, and Brainiac all pave the way for the General to arrive on Earth. Had Clark not been able to defeat him, he would’ve taken over right then and there. Season 7’s “Apocalypse” emphasizes this when Jor-El shows Clark what the world would look like if he never arrived on Earth. Here, Lex (now the President of the United States) still becomes Zod’s vessel via Brainiac’s influence, though with Clark’s cousin Kara (Laura Vandervoort) as his bride. Thankfully, Clark expelling General Zod from Lex and sending him back to the Phantom Zone stops all that.
Zod’s Personal History With Superman’s Family Is Intense
While Clark and Lex’s story starts that miraculous day on the bridge, Zod’s rivalry with the House of El extends further into Kryptonian history. Back when Zod was just a Major (Callum Blue), he and Jor-El (Julian Sands) enjoyed a friendship that paralleled the Clark and Lex dynamic. As allies in the war against the terrorist group Black Zero, Jor-El and Zod were part of a cloning program meant to be the salvation of their species if an extinction-level event ever occurred. But the war followed them home.
After Zod’s wife and son are murdered in the destruction of Kandor, the Major asks Jor-El to bring them back through cloning, but the scientist refuses on ethical grounds. This apparent betrayal fractures the relationship between Zod and Jor-El, and sets the former on his dark path that ultimately leads to Krypton’s destruction. So, when a clone of Major Zod arrives in Smallville during the show’s Season 9, he attempts to forge a similar bond with Jor-El’s now-adult son. Hoping to see good in this younger Zod, who had yet to commit the same atrocities that his counterpart did, Clark tries to befriend the clone and lead the Kandorians on a better path. Unsurprisingly, Zod’s militaristic ambition and quest for power lead to a similar falling out between these Kryptonian blood brothers, which comes to a head in the epic Season 9 finale “Salvation.”
But rather than making the younger Zod a one-note villain, Season 9 expands on the character’s personal history and complex morality. At times, it seems like there may be good in Zod after all, even if most of the time his choices are questionable at best and horrific at worst. The Kryptonian clone may not be as menacing or powerful as his original counterpart, but Blue plays a mean Zod that surpasses what Rosenbaum was able to do with his limited screen time as the character. After all, Blue had a whole season to explore Zod’s motives, while Rosenbaum only got two episodes.
Each Version of Zod Impacted ‘Smallville’
While alternate takes on characters via parallel universes, timelines, and even through the use of drugs, Red Kryptonite, or shapeshifting doppelgängers were commonplace on Smallville, rarely did the series ever introduce two versions of the same distinct person, especially not characters who made a serious impact on the show. Clones on the show usually only got an episode or two, with all their development crammed into a single story. The Zod clone, on the other hand, was granted Smallville main cast status upon his first appearance and made his mark on thirteen episodes of the series in its final two seasons.
Both versions of General Zod be it the phantom from the series’ middle years or the clone from Season 9 have an air of authority to them that they take everywhere. The character’s trademark phrase, “Kneel before Zod,” commands respect, submission, and attention. It’s no wonder then that his actions always enforce those words. To make things even more interesting, after a whole season of wondering what would happen if the clone Zod and the original phantom met, Season 10 merges the two of them together. As a merged entity, General Zod retains the knowledge and memories of two lifetimes, which means that the original’s rivalry with Jor-El and the clone’s with Kal-El are both at the forefront of his mind as he sits trapped in the inescapable Phantom Zone.
The original Zod’s combat and leadership experience paired with the younger version’s physical body, knowledge of Earth, and hatred for Clark makes this Smallville villain one of the show’s best. Unlike Lex, who loses all his memories in the series finale (an odd choice indeed), Zod’s dual memories only fuel the fire of this alien tyrant. If there’s one villain from Smallville you don’t want to mess with, it’s General Zod. His ruthlessness, competence, and single-minded rage are powerful motivators in his quest to rule his own domain. No wonder his “son” Doomsday is a literal “rage monster.”
‘Smallville’ Opens the Door for General Zod To Return to Face Superman in the Future
Though Smallville often introduced Superman villains long before Clark officially took flight, there was always hope that many of those antagonists would return again once our hero was sporting a red cape instead of a jacket. Doomsday being buried beneath Metropolis seemed to imply a potential return in a Death of Superman-like story, while Toyman’s (Chris Gauthier) knowledge of Clark’s secret made him a formidable opponent worth revisiting in the future. Others such as Brainiac, Parasite (Brendan Fletcher), Livewire (Anna Mae Routledge), and Bizarro (Tom Welling) were either reformed, killed off, or disregarded in a way where it would be unlikely if they ever fought a suited-up Superman. Thankfully, General Zod falls into the former.
In Zod’s final appearance in Season 10’s “Dominion,” he and two of his new Phantom Zone lackeys (likely Ursa and Non from Superman II fame) are last seen trapped in the Zone, floating off into space in a manner that echoes the original Christopher Reeve Superman films. While the continuation comic book Smallville Season 11 doesn’t revisit Zod and his companions, given that the merged Kryptonian now has twice the hatred for Kal-El, it’s unlikely that he won’t return down the line seeking revenge. “Dominion” sets up the conflict between Superman and General Zod made famous by the source material and Superman II, a film which Smallville took clear inspiration from throughout its run. It’s clear that while Smallville developed the Luthors as antagonists, General Zod’s hatred for the Man of Steel remains strong, and the show wouldn’t have been the same without his presence.
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