Why Smallville Lost 3 Main Characters After Season 7

Why Smallville Lost 3 Main Characters After Season 7

Smallville had to rebuilt its cast in season 8 after losing three main characters (Lex, Lionel, and Lana) in season 7. Here’s why that happened.

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Why Smallville Lost 3 Main Characters After Season 7

Smallville lost three of its original cast members all fairly close together in season 7. Lana (Kristin Kreuk), Lex (Michael Rosenbaum), and Lionel (John Glover) all left the show in the same season. All three characters had been around since the pilot. Kreuk and Rosenbaum were series regulars from the very beginning, while John Glover’s Lionel Luthor was a recurring character in season 1 before being given a much bigger role starting in season 2.

A few episodes prior to the end of the season, Lionel was murdered by Lex in a moment that solidified his transformation into the evil DC Comics villain. As for Lana, she disappeared in the season 7 finale, with Clark (Tom Welling) finding a goodbye video where she breaks up with him and explains that the world needs him more than she does. In the same episode, Lex — having just discovered Clark’s secret — faced off with Clark at the Fortress of Solitude and was presumably killed in their final confrontation. None of the three returned as series regulars in season 8.

Some have wondered why Smallville had to lose Lex, Lionel, and Lana in just one season. The reason for that is tied to the fact that the actors’ contracts lasted through season 7. Tom Welling and Allison Mack had theirs extended, but both Kreuk and Rosenbaum wanted to leave the show. Kreuk, who played the lead character in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-li during the filming of season 7, arranged to appear in less episodes toward the end, which is why she was in a coma for part of the season. Kreuk had decided to part ways with Smallville once her contract was up so that the actress could move on to other projects. Rosenbaum left Smallville for the same reason, but had an additional one as well: he claimed he was tired of constantly shaving his head to play Lex.

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It would seem that Lionel Luthor was removed from the show for story-related purposes. Glover has said in the past that his character would be “useless” once Lex turned evil, partly because Lionel’s importance to the show was tied directly to his relationship with Lex. He ended up having a key dynamic with Clark, but it seems that this wasn’t enough to justify keeping him around for another season. As a result, Smallville was put in a position where it had to rebuilt its cast in season 8 by having Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) become a main character, making Lois (Erica Durance) Clark’s main love interest, and introducing Tess (Cassidy Freeman) as a replacement for Lex.

Lana, Lex, and Lionel stopped being central to Smallville after season 7, but all three returned to the series in some capacity. Lana came back for a string of guest appearances in season 8 to properly wrap up her romance with Clark, and an alternate universe version of Lionel Luthor served as a villain in the show’s final season and played a role in Lex’s resurrection. A different actor (whose face was never shown) had to play Lex in season 8, but Rosenbaum did end up reprising the role in the Smallville series finale.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/smallville-lana-lex-lionel-luther-season-7-exits/

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