Earlier than Clark Kent meets Lois Lane in Metropolis, he grows up with Lana Lang in Smallville. That is how Superman mythos goes, and nowhere was this romantic journey higher portrayed than in The CW sequence “Smallville.”
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Lana Lang, performed by Kristin Kreuk, is without doubt one of the present’s most important characters, serving not solely as a romantic accomplice to Tom Welling’s Clark Kent, but additionally as an expensive good friend to a few of the present’s most vital characters. Nonetheless, on the finish of season 7, Lana, in an effort to verify Clark might be one of the best heroic model of himself, offers a heartfelt goodbye to him and Smallville, with Kreuk successfully leaving the present, solely to return again for a five-episode stint the next season to present a second tragic finish to the Lana-Clark story.
Behind the scenes, it is extensively believed that Kreuk’s contract round this time was merely over and finished. Upon her departure in 2008, the actor candidly admitted that whereas she vastly loved the sequence and the Lana character, it was merely time to department off to different initiatives. As she defined throughout a Metro interview:
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“I like the individuals and it is a great present to work on, however I noticed there have been issues I could not do as a result of schedule on Smallville. Lana has modified a lot for the reason that first season, so she was all the time enjoyable to play. I simply wished to strive one thing else. It isn’t that I used to be uninterested in the present.”
All issues thought-about, from a strictly story perspective, Lana’s departure felt pure, particularly as Erica Durance’s Lois Lane was turning into a extra distinguished fixture and the sequence was gearing up for its ultimate chapters.
Kristin Kreuk wasn’t the one actor to depart Smallville across the seventh season
Kristin Kreuk was not the one actor to depart “Smallville” throughout this time. Actually, round season 7 is when a lot of the present’s unique essential solid departed the sequence.
Annette O’Toole (who performed Martha Kent) didn’t seem in seasons 7 and eight, and solely made minor appearances within the ultimate two seasons. The seventh season noticed John Glover’s Lionel Luthor get killed off (although the actor would return as an alternate model of the character in season 10). Michael Rosenbaum, who performed Lex Luthor, left “Smallville” after season 7 (although got here again for an epic presidential cameo within the sequence finale) for quite a lot of causes, from his contract working its course to wanting to maneuver on to completely different initiatives to not being supplied a pay improve. (The departure of unique showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar after season 7 additionally impacted Rosenbaum’s resolution.)
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As for Kreuk, the actor has not had any qualms about exiting the present. Throughout a 2024 fan panel, she gave thorough reasoning for why she declined returning for the present’s tenth and ultimate season, and the way she was content material with Lana’s general character ending:
“There is not any grime. I simply wished her to be off in imaginary land. I wished her to maintain dwelling the life that she had gone off to stay and I did not need to carry her again […] I actually struggled with all of the love triangle stuff […] I simply could not see how we come again and shut this — like, add one other closure to the story the place it wasn’t nearly Clark and Lois.”
For any longtime fan desirous to learn extra, you should definitely learn how “Smallville” nearly acquired a “Justice League” spin-off sequence.
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