100 Greatest Superhero Stories Ever
By Steve Lam
Screen Capture from Smallville Season 2, Episode 17: “Rosetta”
#63. Smallville Season 2, Episode 17: “Rosetta”
Medium
Live-Action Television Series
Release Date
February 25, 2003
Credits
Director: James Marshall
Writers: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
Cast: Tom Welling as Clark Kent, Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang, Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor, Sam Jones III as Pete Ross, Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan, John Glover as Lionel Luthor, Annette O’Toole as Martha Kent, John Schneider as Jonathan Kent, Christopher Reeve as Dr. Virgil Swann, Rob LaBelle as Dr. Fredrick Walden, Barclay Hope as Doctor, Joe MacCleod as Delivery Guy
The Reason It’s Great
Cameos and guest starring roles for past superhero actors are always great. However, when you’re graced with the man who embodied the Man of Steel, it makes for an amazing hour of television. That’s what happened in Season 2 of Smallville—the hit show that retold the story of young Clark Kent and his path to becoming Superman.
Actor Christopher Reeve, who was paralized from the neck down from a 1995 equestrian accident, made an appearance as Dr. Virgil Swann—a brilliant scientist who headed the Veritas Society. The role of Swann was tailor-made for Reeve, as the character was also quadrapalegic and relied on the use of a wheelchair and breathing apparatus.
In the episode, Swann contacts young Clark Kent, played by Tom Welling. When Clark visits Swann’s observatory, Swann reveals Clark’s origins. An especially poignant scene has Swann calling Clark “Kal-El,” and guiding him to write his own destiny. After urging Clark to stay, the background music quickly changes to John Williams’s famous “Superman” motif—the theme of the Donner/Reeve Superman films that Reeve himself was known for.
The episode was bittersweet. It was one Superman actor passing the honored torch to another Superman actor. Though Reeve was frail and disabled, he still exuded charisma and had a great presence. Sadly, Reeve would succumb to complications sustained from his injuries a year later and pass away on October 10, 2004. To many who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, he was our Superman.