Former Man of Steel helps young Clark Kent make a leap of faith

“Smallville,” the WB’s imaginative take on Superman’s formative years, takes a mighty leap forward in its development tonight at 9 with the able assistance of a veteran Man of Steel. Christopher Reeve, who starred in four theatrical “Superman” epics in the 1970s and ‘80s, makes a coolly effective guest appearance as a reclusive billionaire who just might hold the key to connecting Clark (Tom Welling) with the lad’s Kryptonian past.

The episode, titled “Rosetta,” has an irresistible old-home-week feel. Reeve not only pays sly homage to a formidable chunk of his acting legacy, but also shares billing here with “Superman III” co-star Annette O’Toole, who portrayed Lana Lang in the film and plays Clark’s mom in the series.

Clark, meanwhile, is just fixated on his old home. He’s been having weird dreams of flying around town and exploring a nearby cave, where a stone wall covered with strange symbols seems to be calling to him. And when he inserts an octagonal disk into a gap in the middle of the symbols, the resulting explosion begins to bring the superhero-in-waiting’s past, present and future into focus.

But it will take a visit to the mysterious Dr. Virgil Swann (Reeve) to really connect the dots, and the show pulls off the highly charged meeting between the two with expert skill. Reeve, who has been in a wheelchair since his 1995 horseback-riding accident, reportedly agreed to the guest role in exchange for airing a short info clip on his paralysis resource center at the conclusion of tonight’s episode. As deals go, this was a win-win proposition.

Although young Clark Kent has yet to explore his alter ego’s flying ability, the second-season “Smallville” series already has taken off.