After a shock renewal for an 8th season Smallville is to loose two of its four original cast members. Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) and Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) will no longer be season regulars but will be guest stars only. While cast changes happen often in Smallville the real issue is the loss of Lex Luthor. While he will be there every so often not having the main bad guy, indeed Superman’s nemesis in the show will certainly hurt story lines and ratings which have both been on the decline.

The other issue that might be a bonus is what fans have thought to be a slowing of Superman’s natural progression as he is held back by an on/off interest in Lana Lang. With the less frequent use of Lang it could be possible that the show will go on to a more complete conclusion joining into the Superman movies at it’s finale.