Clark Kent will take his final steps in "Smallville" when it returns in the fall, with the bumbling reporter finally heading up, up and away as the Man of Steel.

But when the show goes off the air in the spring, The CW apparently is scoping out other shows that might be able to replace it based on the DC comics mythology : some of which may even be considered a spinoff from the Superman-in-training series.

"We have started to talk about if there are other DC comic book adaptations," The CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff told Digital Spy. "We haven't picked anything else up to develop yet, [but] we would like to see something on the air, so we're going to work on it."

"Smallville" already has featured numerous characters from the DC-verse, including members of the Justice League, the Legion and the Justice Society (including Hawkman, who will return in Season 10). On top of that, the Green Arrow and the Martian Manhunter already are well-known faces on the series. However, the main candidate to receive the full-series treatment is one fans have yet to encounter: the Blue Beetle.

According to DC-lore, the Blue Beetle scarab fuses itself to a host and imbues him with powers. Like all comic book franchises, the tale has been retold a few times, and "Smallville" would draw from the 2006 comic adaptation by introducing Jaime Reyes and Booster Gold into the series. Geoff Johns wrote the episode, who is perhaps best known for "The Legion" and "Absolute Justice" episodes that are among fan favorites.

However, nothing has been set in Kryptonite yet on if this could lead to a new series, and The CW is still keeping its options open.

"We are talking about everything," Ostroff said. "The characters are there. We're looking at the DC library. There are different parts of the puzzle. At the end of the day, I would love to be able to say that 'Smallville' is going off the air and now we have something else coming on."

"Smallville" returns to The CW to begin its 10th and final season on Sept. 24.