Why Morgan Edge Was Recast in Smallville

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The CW’s history of shows based on characters and properties from DC Comics has certainly resulted in perhaps some of the most memorable screen adaptations that the brand has ever seen, from Arrow to Superman & Lois. However, it’s possible that none of those shows would’ve ever seen the light of day had it not been for the influence of Smallville. The series depicted the teen and early adult years of Clark Kent, all leading up to him finally donning the cape as Superman. It ran for almost a full decade and easily captured a loyal following of DC fans, but its production didn’t always run so smoothly. Season 3 was a prime example of this, and while the cast and crew were able to creatively work their way around certain restraints, said restraints resulted in some glaring details and notable last-minute changes that may have taken certain viewers out of the experience.

One of the most significant changes appeared in the season’s portrayal of the recurring Superman villain, Morgan Edge. In the realm of television, the recasting of certain characters is nothing new, and there’s almost always a legitimately understandable reason behind it, but Smallville‘s recasting of Morgan Edge was an unusual case. It’s one thing for a character to be recast in between seasons, but it’s almost unheard of for one to be recast in between episodes in the same season. So, what exactly led to the recasting of Morgan Edge after two of his only three appearances in the entire series?

Who Is Morgan Edge In DC Comics?

As a Powerful and Corrupt Business Mogul, He’s One of Superman’s More Underrated Foes

While Morgan Edge isn’t exactly considered to be one of Superman’s most remembered or easily recognizable villains compared to those like Lex Luthor or Mr. Mxyzptlk, he’s progressively become a bigger threat throughout each incarnation. Ever since his first appearance, Edge has been portrayed as a businessman and mogul, usually using his power and wealth to support causes that would give him even more. Originally, he was depicted as the President of a media company that bought out The Daily Planet. While he was a good-hearted man who was friendly to his employees, he also had an evil clone created by a lab working for Darkseid, who had a connection to Intergang. After “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” the storyline revamped the continuity of the comics, however, it resulted in a new version of Edge that was now the leader of Intergang and much more in line with how his clone behaved.

When it comes to on-screen portrayals of the character throughout DC media, he’s been depicted as quite a malevolent force to be reckoned with. Most recently, his portrayal by actor Adam Rayner in Superman & Lois has been by far the most threatening against the Man of Steel. In one of the show’s biggest twists, it’s revealed that not only is Edge not human at all, but rather another Kryptonian by the name of Tal-Rho, but he’s also the older half-brother of Kal-El. While his portrayal in Smallville wasn’t anywhere near as prevalent or posed nearly as much of a threat against Clark as his most recent one, it was certainly far from forgettable.

Who Played Morgan Edge In Smallville?

Rutger Hauer Only Played the Role For 2 Episodes Before Being Replaced For His Third

In Season 3 of Smallville, Morgan Edge only appears in a total of three episodes, but he ends up playing a key role in what leads to one of the show’s biggest developments. In the show, Edge is depicted as the biggest crime boss in Metropolis and a long-time friend of Lionel Luthor, who gains awareness of Clark’s Kryptonian superpowers. When Clark fails to deliver after being hired to steal a package from Lionel (a vial of his Kryptonian blood), Edge threatens to have Jonathan and Martha Kent killed unless he complies. He attempts to kidnap Clark and bring the blood’s source to Lionel, but it doesn’t end well for him, as Clark uses his heat vision to blow up the truck that was used for the kidnapping and escape, leading Lionel to suspect that Edge had attempted to kill him. In his first two appearances, he was played by Rutger Hauer, perhaps best known for his supporting roles in such iconic films as The Shining and Blade Runner.

A mere six episodes later, however, in his third and final episode, Hauer was unexpectedly replaced by actor Patrick Bergin. In this episode, after it’s revealed that he had conspired with Lionel to discredit his testimony for having been an accomplice to Lionel’s murder of his parents, he becomes involved in a shootout with Lex Luthor, which resulted in both Edge’s death and Lex learning of Clark’s powers. Thankfully, the show’s writers did create a legitimately good reason within the story to explain the sudden recasting, so they could both realistically work around it and not end up confusing the audience. While the show certainly did its best to hide it, the recasting was only one of what turned out to be many production troubles that were faced throughout the making of Season 3.

A Twist Needed To Be Added To Explain Why Edge Was Played By a New Actor

All 10 seasons of Smallville are available to buy on Blu-ray and can be streamed on Hulu.

As documented in the season’s companion book by writer Paul Simpson, Season 3 was certainly one of the more difficult times of Smallville‘s entire run. Throughout production, numerous episodes were faced with budget cutbacks and creative differences between the creative crew, which resulted in several scenes needing to be rewritten, moved to other episodes, or scrapped entirely for new ones involving different characters at the last minute. One major example of these alterations involved the removal of Chloe and Lana’s scenes in the episode “Memorabilia”, to focus more on Clark, Lex, and Lionel. There were even struggles between the writers about where to take the character of Pete Ross, which ultimately led to them completely writing him out of the series. These troubles also bled over into the casting department, as even though Rutger Hauer had filmed his two episodes and was set to appear for the third, an unexpected scheduling conflict with another project got in the way of his return.

As a result, due to him having a similar build to Hauer, which made it just believable enough that they could be the same character, Patrick Bergin was cast in his place. Of course, with such a drastic recasting occurring between only several episodes within the same season, the show’s story needed a reason as to why; and the explanation was simple: Edge had undergone plastic surgery since his last appearance, to hide from Lionel after his security shot him down. Seeing how the show dealt with such an obstacle, just goes to show that, despite all the creative and budgetary setbacks that it faced, the team behind Smallville, or at least those who worked on its earlier seasons, was one of the best ones to work on television. Not only did they know how to roll with the punches in a way that wouldn’t compromise the show’s storytelling, but they also managed to do so in a way that still kept their audience and fan base as engaged as they were from the start.

“}]] Smallville Season 3 booked Rutger Hauer as a recurring villain. The only problem was that he couldn’t commit to all the episodes he should’ve been in.  Read More