 Terence Stamp 's name was deliberately kept out of the opening credits in order to keep the secret he was voicing Jor @-@ El . Stamp originally portrayed General Zod in the first two Superman films , starring Christopher Reeve . Gough and Millar wanted to provide answers for certain aspects of the Superman mythology , so at the start of season three they tied Jonathan 's heart condition to Jor @-@ El , where Jonathan makes a deal with Jor @-@ El to be given the power to bring Clark back . This power ultimately puts a strain on Jonathan 's heart . The refusal by the film department to allow Smallville to cast a body as a physical representation of Jor @-@ El forced the special effects crew to come up with a creative way to display some sort of aid to help the audience visualize this disembodied voice which was supposed to be talking to Jonathan in season three 's " Exile " . They decided to create a force field around whoever was speaking to Jor @-@ El , which acted as Jor @-@ El 's voice , rippling as he spoke . To save money on this effect , the crew filmed John Schneider on a black backdrop , and Entity FX digitally added the force field around him . Wind machines and a spot light were added to help synthesize the atmosphere in the force field . At the time of season three 's " Memoria " , where a scene depicting Jor @-@ El and Lara placing baby Kal @-@ El into his ship before the destruction of Krypton was scripted , Warner Bros. was working on a new Superman film , and it was going to be an origin story , and as a result was still banning Smallville from showing Jor @-@ El . Millar was forced to take inspiration from comic book scribe Jeph Loeb . In one of Loeb 's book , Jor @-@ El and Lara are depicted as just a pair of hands holding on to each other after they place Kal @-@ El into his spaceship . In season nine , the producers were able to provide the character with a physical appearance , and Julian Sands was cast for the role . 
