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A decision that seems like it took an eternity to make has finally been made.

Callum Blue, probably best known to genre fans as Mason in the Showtime's "Dead Like Me," has been cast as General Zod in "Smallville," one of the iconic villains from Superman lore.

Blue takes over a role that many fans continuously identify with actor Terence Stamp, who first played Zod in the 1980 film "Superman II."

There had been plenty of speculation on who might be cast as Zod, but it seems it might have been Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello who had the original scoop on Blue's casting with a post he made on the magazine's Web site last month when under the headline "Are they casting Zod?" he shares a casting call sheet for a character named "Mason" who sounds very much like the Mason Blue played in "Dead Like Me.

Blue has stayed busy since his "Dead Like Me" days. He made a guest appearance on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" in in 2005 before taking on the role of Bob in the short-lived series "Related."

After that, he played Anthony Knivert in the HBO series "The Tudors" and spent eight episodes as Alex in the Billie Piper series "Secret Diary of a Call Girl."

He starred in the direct-to-DVD release of a "Dead Like Me" followup movie, and most recent projects include the films "Little Fish, Strange Pond" and "Mate," according to Internet Movie Database.

The character of Zod was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp, and first appeared in Superman comics in April 1961, according to Wikipedia. Zod is the third major villain to grace "Smallville" following seven years of Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor and an eighth season complete with Sam Witwer's portrayal of Doomsday.

At the same time, of course, fans could argue that other villains like Brainiac (played by James Marsters) and Mr. Mxyzptlk that have appeared on the show are major villains, even though there were no season arcs dedicated to them.

Rumors persist, however, that Rosenbaum could return to the series in a more full-time capacity, possibly by the middle of the ninth season.

"Smallville" moves to Fridays this fall on The CW.