Van McNulty

Van McNulty is a villain appearing on the WB/CW television series Smallville. He serves as the main antagonist of the Season 3 episode "Extinction" before returning as a supporting antagonist in "Asylum."

He is played by Jesse Metcalfe.

After his father, a Marine lieutenant, was murdered by Tina Greer in Season 2's "Visage," Van embarked on a one-man crusade against people had been affected by the Kryptonite meteors found all over Smallville, regardless of whether or not they had actually done any wrong. He even shot and killed his best friend Jake Pollen when he attempted to drown Lana Lang in the Smallville High swimming pool, leaving a chunk of Kryptonite labeled with the word "freak."

After interviewing Van for a school article about Jake, Clark Kent does some digging and learns of Van's connection to the Marine lieutenant that Tina killed, and he and Pete Ross go to the McNultys' hunting cabin in the woods, where they find an arsenal of weapons and printouts of notes on meteor-infected humans, which includes Lex Luthor, whom Clark deduces is Van's next target. Clark races to Metropolis, arriving in time to save Lex from being shot by Van.

Clark spots Van and catches up to him, and the two boys fall to the sidewalk. Kryptonite chunks fall out of Van's backpack, weakening Clark. Standing up, Van tells Clark he saw him catch the bullet to save Lex and calls him a freak. Seeing Clark writhing in pain from the Kryptonite, he then deduces Clark's weaknesses and even takes a chunk of Kryptonite and brings it near Clark until police cars start pulling up. He then leaves the scene.

Later, Van makes Kryptonite bullets and shoots Clark with one. He then goes to the Talon, where he corners Lana in the alley, tells her he's the one who killed Jake, and also says he shot and killed Clark, much to Lana's sadness. Lana manages to push Van down a flight of steps and tries calling the police, only for Van to stop her and take her captive.

It turns out that Clark survived Van's murder attempt (thanks to his parents removing the Kryptonite bullet from his shoulder), and he sends a message to Van via police radio, telling him to meet him at Smallville High. Van brings Lana with him so she can see for herself that Clark is a freak. When Clark arrives at the school, Van shoots him multiple times with Kryptonite bullets, but Clark is unharmed by the shots. Lana then kicks Van in the groin before kicking him into the nearby trophy case, and Clark reveals he put on a makeshift lead breastplate beforehand.

Van returns in "Asylum," where he attempts to attack Clark when the latter comes to Belle Reve to visit Lex. Later, Van grudgingly agrees to help Ian Randall and Eric Summers get revenge on Clark, their mutual enemy, by supplying them with a chunk of Kryptonite. However, once Ian gets the Kryptonite from Van, he and his duplicate kill Van in Belle Reve's weight room.