Whatever Happened To Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum?
In October 2001, the hit 21st century reimagining of Superman's origin story titled "Smallville" premiered on the WB to enormous fanfare and excitement. Starring Tom Welling in the lead role as a teenage Clark Kent, the show's early seasons chronicled his discovery of his powers, his romance with Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), and the beginnings of his friendship with none other than Lex Luthor. It was through "Smallville" that actor Michael Rosenbaum — whose biggest credits at the time were "Urban Legend" and "Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil" — first launched his television career, and he'd be forever associated with the role of Lex Luthor.
For seven seasons, Rosenbaum shaved his head to play the definitive version of Superman's greatest nemesis, a complex take on the character that made one hope that maybe Lex would redeem himself after all. When he didn't, descending further into supervillainy, it was clear that Rosenbaum was born for this role. When series creators Al Gough and Miles Miller and three cast members all left the series in 2008, it was a shock, but nowhere near as shocking as Rosenbaum's departure. Sure, "Smallville" did its best to keep Lex alive, but the show was never the same without him.
Thankfully, after years of waiting, Rosenbaum returned for the two-part series finale in 2011, where his Lex helped usher Clark into his destiny as Superman. But what happened to Michael Rosenbaum afterward? Well, let's just say he's kept himself busy.
He continued on as a DC Universe regular
The same year that "Smallville" debuted, Michael Rosenbaum joined another corner of the DC Universe. Aside from playing one of the DCU's biggest supervillains, he also became the voice of the Fastest Man Alive in the 2001 cartoon series "Justice League." As the Wally West incarnation of The Flash, Rosenbaum was the man behind the hero who, for many who grew up in the early 2000s, is considered the definitive version of the character. He'd continue this role in the immediate sequel, "Justice League Unlimited," and even appeared as a version of The Flash in episodes of "Static Shock" and "Teen Titans," the animated feature "Justice League Doom," and a few different video games.
But many may not know that Rosenbaum was part of the DC Universe even before "Smallville" and "Justice League." In 1999, his voice was heard in a half-dozen episodes of the futuristic "Batman Beyond," which eventually led to pre-Flash appearances in "The Zeta Project" and "Static Shock." He even voiced the Joker's henchman Ghoul in "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker," and he didn't stop there. Rosenbaum also played Deadman in a 2009 episode of "Batman: The Brave and the Bold," and Deadshot in "Justice League Unlimited."
In the 2010s, Rosenbaum appeared in the animated "Justice League: Throne of Atlantis," the video game "Batman: Arkham Knight," and played a character named Seth in both a "Phantom Stranger" short film and the interactive feature "Batman: Death In The Family."
He voiced Nick in Lollipop Chainsaw
Although not his first video game work (and certainly not his last), Michael Rosenbaum voiced Nick in the Goichi Suda/James Gunn production of "Lollipop Chainsaw," a collaboration hack-and-slash adventure game that made waves back in 2012, just a year after "Smallville" ended. After first collaborating with Gunn for two episodes of his "PG Porn" series (after his initial departure from "Smallville"), "Lollipop Chainsaw" was Rosenbaum's second project with the current co-head of DC Studios, though it certainly wouldn't be his last.
The game follows Juliet (Tara Strong), a high school cheerleader — who also happens to be the zombie equivalent to Buffy the Vampire Slayer — who has to stop a zombie outbreak and save the world, or at least take out as many of the undead as she can. Rosenbaum's Nick is Juliet's boyfriend, who is bitten by a zombie trying to save her and quickly loses his head (literally) as a result. But, via a magic spell she places on him, Juliet is able to keep Nick alive and with her through this apocalyptic ordeal.
Unsurprisingly, "Lollipop Chainsaw" became something of a cult classic, and though a remake was initially announced, the project has been retooled due to fan requests into a remaster instead (titled "Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP"), set to be released in 2024. Looks like Rosenbaum's work as Nick may not be done after all.
Michael Rosenbaum was a regular on the short-lived Breaking In
Following his time on a superhero drama like "Smallville," Michael Rosenbaum, who has always had a penchant for comedy ("Sorority Boys," hello?) became a series regular on the first season of the Fox comedy "Breaking In." Starring Christian Slater as Oz, a former thief who now runs a security firm, the series was originally meant to be a midseason replacement for "American Idol," and only ran seven episodes in its first season. Rosenbaum played Dutch Nilbog, the jock-like boyfriend of Melanie (Odette Annable), who doubles as the foil to the main character Cameron (Bret Harrison).
A vast departure from his role on "Smallville," Rosenbaum used all his comedic skills to play this character (who even dons a Superman tee at one point), and Dutch soon became a fan-favorite. But even Rosenbaum couldn't stop the show from being canceled after its first season. Thankfully, fans erupted, and Fox eventually greenlit Season 2, but this time without Rosenbaum and fellow cast member Trevor Moore returning. The second season suffered without Rosenbaum and Moore, and the show was eventually canceled again, with the remaining eight episodes unaired in the United States.
Dutch did eventually return for the Season 2 finale "Episode XIII," but it was far too late to save the show. Why didn't Rosenbaum return to "Breaking In?" Well, it seems he had a pre-existing commitment to direct his very own feature film.
Michael Rosenbaum directed his own movie
Michael Rosenbaum's first (and so far only) feature film, the nostalgic high school reunion comedy "Back in the Day," hit theaters in early 2014 to mixed results. Having written, directed, and executive produced the project, Rosenbaum also headlined as Jim Owens, a Hollywood actor who stars primarily in insurance commercials. He returns to the hometown he always fought to leave, hoping to find the meaning in his life that he was looking for. Along for the ride is Morena Baccarin as Jim's old flame Laurie, Isaiah Mustafa as his high school buddy T, "Buffy" actress Emma Caulfield, and others.
Rosenbaum had previously directed a sixth season episode of "Smallville" and the short film "Fade Into You," which he had also written. In 2011, just after "Smallville," he also co-wrote, produced, and starred in the short film "Ghild." No wonder it was time for the actor-turned-director to take a shot at his own comedy feature. The film itself (originally titled "Old Days") was shot in the middle of TV pilot season — a rough time for any Hollywood actor — and largely removed itself from Los Angeles, with Rosenbaum opting instead to film primarily in Indiana.
Unfortunately, "Back in the Day" got terrible reviews from critics, and didn't do too well with audiences either. Despite Rosenbaum's always reliable performance, it didn't land the way he hoped it would, and the actor hasn't returned to the director's chair since.
He was the lead on TV Land's Impastor
Michael Rosenbaum's feature film woes didn't keep him down, as the actor continued to advance his career by landing the lead role in TV Land's irreverent 2015 comedy series "Impastor." Rosenbaum — also an executive producer on the show — starred as Buddy Dobbs, a con man and thief who steals the identity of a dead, gay Lutheran pastor to hide from loan sharks. While posing as Pastor Jonathan Barlow, Buddy hides out in a small Oregon community as he attempts to raise enough money to get out from under.
If that doesn't sound like enough material for an outlandish sitcom, then wait until the cops show up. But the network didn't get the memo, instead opting to cancel "Impastor" on a cliffhanger immediately after its second season ended. Years later, Rosenbaum expressed his frustration with the cancellation. "All of a sudden I just felt like, 'Man, that was a really good gig. I was really lucky to be a part of it,'" he explained on an episode of his "Inside of You" podcast (via YouTube). "'What was it? Is it me? I guess so, I'm the lead.'"
Whatever TV Land's reasons for canceling the series, it seems unlikely that it was ever because of Rosenbaum's performance, which was as consistent as ever. Who knows, maybe one day "Impastor" will get a second chance.
He ventured into reality TV
"If you had to disappear, could you?" Did you know that Michael Rosenbaum took a left turn into the world of reality TV? Well, he was never on camera exactly, nor was he a participant on any reality game show, but he did narrate the short-lived series "Hunted," which ran for seven episodes on CBS in 2017. Based on the U.K. series of the same name, "Hunted" follows a group of 18 contestants as they're paired up and tasked with evading capture by law enforcement for 28 days within the southeastern United States for a prize of $250,000. Sounds impossible, but two pairs were able to do it.
Premiering right after the 2017 AFC Championship Game, "Hunted" took audiences on a wild ride as the soothing voice of Michael Rosenbaum carried them through. It was an exciting idea to be sure, and not the normal sort of survival reality show we're used to seeing on our local networks and streamers, but "Hunted" only lasted a single season with seemingly no plans to continue further. Despite that, Rosenbaum's vocals lend themselves nicely to the reality sector, proving that his years of voice acting prepped him for this project.
Since "Hunted," Rosenbaum hasn't returned to the world of reality TV — opting instead to find his own place within the celebrity podcast genre (more on that later) — but he really should. Should CBS ever resurrect "Hunted," they know who to track down.
Yeah, that's him in Guardians of the Galaxy
After "PG Porn" and "Lollipop Chainsaw," Michael Rosenbaum and James Gunn — who are good friends offscreen — soon found themselves working together again in 2017 for the sequel to Gunn's Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, "Guardians of the Galaxy." In "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," Gunn further expanded the cosmic side of the MCU, introducing more Ravagers, alien species, and characters from the comics. One such character was original Guardians of the Galaxy member (at least in the comics) Martinex T'Naga, who appears alongside Sylvester Stallone's Stakar Ogord, aka Starhawk.
Played by Rosenbaum, Martinex tragically doesn't get an exorbitant amount of screen time, but he does get a line in the post-credits scene for "Vol. 2" that teases more to come. Unfortunately, 2023's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," the final installment of Gunn's space opera, doesn't give Martinex (or Rosenbaum) much more to do, and the character is largely left by the wayside. The way "Vol. 2" ends seemed to imply that a spin-off of sorts featuring Stallone's team of Ravagers may have been in the works, but with Gunn leaving Marvel for DC Studios, it now seems unlikely.
At this point, it's unclear if Rosenbaum will continue to appear in the MCU, but hey, now that his buddy James Gunn is working for DC, Rosenbaum ought to feel right at home.
Michael Rosenbaum launched his own podcast
Michael Rosenbaum launched his own comedy interview podcast in 2018, hilariously titled "Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum," which premiered only a few months after Dax Shepard's somewhat similar "Armchair Expert." The very first episode featured a reunion between Rosenbaum and his former "Smallville" co-star and good friend Tom Welling, and from there he continued on with a plethora of great guests including Zachary Levi, Kristen Bell, Joel McHale, Seth Green, Nathan Fillion, Laura Vandervoort, and more.
Over the years, "Inside of You" has grown into a bigger production, with big-name celebrity guests and plenty of interesting material to uncover. He's even had James Gunn on a few times, including right after the announcement that Gunn would be taking over DC Studios and helming the upcoming "Superman: Legacy." "It wasn't until I started inviting [my celebrity friends] into my home that I realized, I didn't really know these people," Rosenbaum wrote on his website. With his podcast, the actor hopes to create a safe space for people to listen to and talk about the anxieties and insecurities that we all have.
On October 11, 2023, the first "Inside of You" live show was hosted in downtown Los Angeles, featuring longtime recurring guest Zachary Levi. With nearly 300 episodes so far, and plenty more coming down the pipeline, Rosenbaum has successfully rebranded himself as a podcast host who cares.
He has his own band
In addition to hosting his own podcast, Michael Rosenbaum is also one-half of the musical duo Sun Spin. A Southern California rock band to the core, Sun Spin is Rosenbaum and Rob Danson, who is Rosenbaum's best friend and frequent musical collaborator since composing the music for his short film "Ghild." Danson even composed the score for Rosenbaum's 2014 feature film, "Back in the Day," among other projects. In fact, before Sun Spin, these two were a part of another SoCal band called Left on Laurel, which released their album "Saved By The Ground" in 2019.
Rosenbaum and Danson have come a long way since then as a musical duo. Sun Spin released their first album, "Best Days," only two years after Left on Laurel closed up shop. This also happened to be during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led the band to host monthly online shows via StageIt. Throughout 2022, the band went to work on their second studio album, "Never Is What It Is," which dropped on January 1, 2023.
Sun Spin's brand of alternative rock is serene and easy on the ears, perfect for a long drive down the Pacific Coast Highway on a bright and sunny day. They couldn't have picked a more apt name for their rock duo.
He and Tom Welling have been revisiting Smallville
After the success of "Inside of You," Michael Rosenbaum convinced Tom Welling to co-host a new podcast series with him titled "TalkVille." That's right, in the same vein as those other celebrity rewatch podcasts out there, Rosenbaum and Welling have returned to the early 2000s to revisit the respective journeys of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor on "Smallville." Branded as "the ultimate 'Smallville' rewatch podcast," the show even features a hotline for fans to call in and ask questions about the making of the show.
As of October 2023, Welling and Rosenbaum have only gotten through the first three seasons of "Smallville," but they show no signs of slowing down. Along the way, they've been reunited with former co-stars Kristen Kreuk (Lana Lang), John Schneider (Jonathan Kent), John Glover (Lionel Luthor), Annette O'Toole (Martha Kent), Eric Johnson (Whitney Fordman), and even series creators Al Gough and Miles Miller. No doubt, there will be plenty more reunions and returns before their official rewatch ends.
But "TalkVille" isn't the only "Smallville"-related project these two have been working on together. In 2022, Welling revealed that the two of them have been working on an animated revival, hoping to resurrect the show following his and Erica Durance's (Lois Lane) reappearance during the Arrowverse's "Crisis on Infinite Earths." Here's hoping that we'll see the "Smallville" Clark and Lex dynamic on screen again someday.