Smallville at Comic-Con: Series to welcome Booster Gold, Blue Beetle in Geoff Johns episode

SAN DIEGO – Geoff Johns announced at the “Smallville” panel in Ballroom 20 of Comic-Con International that he will bring Booster Gold and the Blue Beetle to the series in the final season.   The Blue Beetle will be the Jamie Reyes character, and Skeets, Booster’s robot sidekick, will appear, Johns says.

(I wonder if the test Blue Beetle footage shown at DC Nation at Comic-Con, and this news, could mean this Blue Beetle could spin off after “Smallville” ends?)

Johns moderated the panel, which featured Tom Welling and Erica Durance, Cassidy Freeman, and Justin Hartley, along with showrunners Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson.  A clip shown at the beginning of the panel showed a brief glimpse of a “Superman” costume, which has been teased for years on “Smallville.” With this being the final season, it appears that wish will finally come true for many Superman fans.  Will he fly?  Peterson says, “We all know how the comics turn out.”

Fans wondering if Cassidy Freeman, who plays Tess Mercer, will return have good news – Freeman says her appearance today at the panel is a good sign.  That’s good, because she’s a Nerdage favorite.   Another character who may not be dead?  John Schneider, who makes a surprise (to me) appearance, saying “rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

The villain this year will be Darkseid, which sounds like a fantastic way for the series to go out.  Like Doomsday, he’ll be somewhat different from his comics incarnation.