This Smallville trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and spans all ten seasons of the WB and CW series, from the 2001 pilot that broke ratings records to the 2011 finale where Clark finally put on the suit. It covers the cast and their characters, the 'no tights, no flights' rule, the meteor freaks and kryptonite colours, the Luthors, Chloe Sullivan and her Wall of Weird, Lois Lane's arrival, the Justice League and Legion episodes, the guest stars from earlier Superman screen history, and the Season 11 comic that carried the story on. It is written for fans who lived through the Thursday-night years and for newcomers streaming it now: easy questions on the main cast, harder ones on episode details, writers and production trivia. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which two writer-producers developed Smallville?
Alfred Gough and Miles Millar
They left after seven seasons in April 2008 and were replaced as showrunners by Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson.
Q 02Smallville's famous production rule about Clark Kent was 'no tights, no' what?
Flights
Clark could not fly or wear the Superman suit; the story focused on his origins and moral growth instead.
Q 03How many episodes of Smallville were made across its ten seasons?
217
That total let it pass Stargate SG-1 as the longest-running North American science fiction series by episode count.
Q 04Which actor played Clark Kent?
Tom Welling
The former Abercrombie & Fitch model directed several episodes, including the 150th, 'Apocalypse'.
Q 05Michael Rosenbaum played which character for the first seven years?
Lex Luthor
His head was shaved every day and he sat through hours of make-up; he returned for the finale 'for the fans'.
Q 06Why is Smallville's Lex bald?
The 1989 meteor shower
The same shower that brought Clark to Earth left young Lex hairless but in perfect health.
Q 07How do Lex and the young Kent first meet in the pilot?
He saves Lex from drowning after a car crash
Lex's Porsche goes off a bridge and Clark tears the roof off underwater, starting a friendship that curdles into enmity.
Q 08Which main character was invented for the show rather than taken from the comics?
Chloe Sullivan
Allison Mack's Torch editor proved so popular that DC added her to comics continuity in Action Comics #893 in 2010.
Q 09What did the Torch's editor call the collage of meteor-mutation news clippings in her office?
The Wall of Weird
She later took the codename Watchtower and married first Jimmy Olsen and then Oliver Queen.
Q 10Which codename does Chloe adopt when running support for the Justice League?
Watchtower
Her powers came and went: empathic healing, super-intelligence and technopathy.
Q 11Erica Durance joined the cast as Lois Lane at the start of which year of the show?
Fourth
Lois is written as Chloe's cousin; Durance and Welling reprised the roles in the 2019 Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover.
Q 12Which city stood in for Kansas throughout Smallville's production?
Vancouver
British Columbia locations were chosen for their 'idyllic portrait of America'.
Q 13Which band performed Smallville's theme song 'Save Me'?
Remy Zero
The single, from the album The Golden Hum, reached number 27 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart in 2001.
Christopher Reeve guest-starred as which character, who teaches Clark about Krypton?
Q 21Season six was the first to air on which newly formed network?
The CW
The WB and UPN merged in 2006; the same season introduced Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen.
Q 22Justin Hartley played which archer superhero on Smallville?
Green Arrow
Oliver Queen assembled Aquaman, Cyborg and Impulse in the season-six episode 'Justice' to dismantle LuthorCorp's 33.1 project.
Q 23In the episode 'Justice', which three heroes join Oliver Queen to take down LuthorCorp's Level 33.1?
Impulse, Aquaman and Cyborg
Bart Allen, Arthur Curry and Victor Stone had each appeared solo in earlier seasons.
Dr. Virgil Swann
The season-two episode was 'Rosetta'; Reeve praised the show's writing and effects.
Q 15Which actor voiced Jor-El from the Fortress of Solitude?
Terence Stamp
Stamp had played General Zod in the 1978 and 1980 Superman films.
Q 16Which power does Clark develop in season two during a summer scorcher?
Heat vision
X-ray vision came in season one and super hearing in season three; the flare-ups in 'Heat' were triggered by arousal.
Q 17What does red kryptonite do to Clark in Smallville?
Strips away his inhibitions
It was introduced in the season-two episode 'Red', and Clark puts on a red-K ring in that season's finale to run away.
Q 18Before adopting the Superman name, Clark's vigilante alter ego in Metropolis was called what?
The Blur
He was first 'the Red-Blue Blur', then in season nine wore a black costume with a silver S.
Q 19Which family tragedy occurs in 'Reckoning', the show's 100th episode?
Jonathan Kent dies of a heart attack
John Schneider's Jonathan collapses after winning the state senate election.
Q 20Which Buffy alumnus played Brainiac, alias Milton Fine, from season five?
James Marsters
Season five ends with Zod, freed from the Phantom Zone, possessing Lex's body as Metropolis burns.
Q 24Which two original cast members left as regulars after season seven?
Michael Rosenbaum and Kristin Kreuk
Season eight moved Clark to the Daily Planet and introduced Tess Mercer as LuthorCorp's new CEO.
Q 25Which paramedic character in season eight was Smallville's version of Doomsday?
Davis Bloome
Sam Witwer played him; the season also brought in Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer.
Q 26Which DC Comics writer scripted the Smallville episodes 'Legion', 'Absolute Justice' and 'Booster'?
Geoff Johns
'Absolute Justice' introduced Hawkman, Doctor Fate and Stargirl of the Justice Society in a double-length special.
Q 27Callum Blue played which Kryptonian villain in season nine?
Major Zod
Season nine also moved the show to Friday nights so The Vampire Diaries could expand on Thursdays.
Q 28Which blaxploitation icon played Checkmate's Amanda Waller in season nine?
Pam Grier
Brian Austin Green appeared the same season as the kryptonite-powered cyborg Metallo.
Q 29Who was the main villain of Smallville's tenth and final season?
Darkseid
The producers stressed their Darkseid was a distinct take from the comics version.
Q 30The costume Clark wears in the finale had previously been worn by which actor?
Brandon Routh in Superman Returns
The producers acquired the 2006 film costume so the show could finally end the 'no tights' rule.