Justin Hartley Replaced Alan Ritchson as Aquaman in Scrapped Pilot

Justin Hartley replaced Alan Ritchson as Aquaman in a DC pilot that was later scrapped.

Smallville co-creators Al Gough and Miles Millar discussed the change in an interview marking the show’s 25th anniversary.

They also looked back at whether the series could have grown into a franchise, like the Arrowverse that followed it.

Millar said using other DC characters gradually helped Smallville survive and let the team reshape them to suit the show.

Smallville took a more grounded approach than some later superhero series.

The creators praised the Arrowverse as another way to tell stories, and said Smallville helped lay groundwork for what came after.

The interview details provided here do not say why Hartley replaced Ritchson, or what happened next with the scrapped pilot.