Smallville season 9

The ninth season of Smallville, an American television series developed by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, began airing on September 25, 2009 on The CW. The series recounts the early adventures of Kryptonian Clark Kent as he adjusts to life in the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas, during the years before he becomes Superman. The ninth season comprises 21 episodes and concluded its initial airing on May 14, 2010. After four seasons broadcasting on Thursday nights at 8:00 pm, Smallville was moved to Friday nights at 8:00 pm for season nine, to make room for The Vampire Diaries. Regular cast members during season nine include Tom Welling, Allison Mack, Erica Durance, Cassidy Freeman, Callum Blue, and Justin Hartley.

In this season, Clark (Welling) takes his superhero persona into obsessive territory when he leaves behind those he cares for so that he can focus solely on Jor-El's training. In order to accomplish this, Clark wears a new costume that sports his family crest on the chest. The theme of the season is about Clark finally embracing his alien heritage, while also being his darkest hour thus far. As a result, Clark's relationships with Chloe Sullivan (Mack) and Oliver Queen (Hartley) suffer. Season nine also introduces more DC Comics characters, including multiple episode appearances for the Justice Society of America (JSA), as well as villain Metallo, government agent Amanda Waller, the Wonder Twins, and a variation on the lost citizens of Kandor.

Following the end of season eight, Aaron Ashmore and Sam Witwer departed the series after both their characters were killed off. With the loss of two series regulars, producers had to look for a new primary villain for season nine. Executive producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson decided to use Zod, a character from the comics and the Superman film series, portrayed by Blue. This version of Zod is younger than previous incarnations, including the short appearance he had on Smallville in season six, and goes by the title of "Major Zod". Original depictions list the character as "General Zod".

The season premiere brought in 2.58 million viewers and outperformed any other show in the Friday 8:00 pm timeslot in over a year. Furthermore, "Absolute Justice", a double-length episode featuring the JSA, aired on February 5, 2010. In an effort to clear up confusion, the Smallville writers announced on their Twitter page that they still consider it to be two separately produced episodes, but was aired and packaged on the season nine DVD as a single episode. Season nine averaged 2.38 million viewers, ranking #129 out of the 140 broadcast primetime shows.