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{{Short description|Fictional character from Smallville}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2012}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Lana Lang
| image = [[File:Lana_Lang_Smallville.jpg|250px]]
| caption = [[Kristin Kreuk]] as Lana Lang▼
| first =
| based_on = {{based on|Lana Lang|[[Bill Finger]]|John Sikela}}
| adapted_by = [[Alfred Gough]]<br>[[Miles Millar]]
| portrayer = [[Kristin Kreuk]]<br>Jade Unterman
| first_major = [[Smallville]]
| last_major = Smallville
|
| last_minor = [[Smallville (season 8)#Episodes|Requiem]]
| first_date = October 16, 2001
| last_date = February 5, 2009
▲| [[Kristin Kreuk]]
'''Lana Lang''' is a
▲|}
In
▲'''Lana Lang''' is a [[fictional character]] on the [[television series]] ''[[Smallville]]''. She has been a series regular since the [[Pilot (Smallville)|pilot episode]], and has been played continuously by [[Kristin Kreuk]], with two other actresses having portrayed Lana Lang as a child and as an elderly woman. The character of [[Lana Lang]], first created for [[comic book]]s by [[Bill Finger]] and [[John Sikela]] in the 1950s as a romantic interest for [[Superboy (Kal-El)|Superboy]], was adapted to television in 2001 by [[Alfred Gough]] and [[Miles Millar]]. The character has also appeared in various literature based on the ''Smallville'' television series, none of which directly continues from or into the television episodes.
Initially, Lana is characterized as the
▲In Gough and Millar's series, Lana is the love interest for [[Clark Kent (Smallville)|Clark Kent]], though, in the first season she is dating [[Characters of Smallville#Whitney Fordman|Whitney Fordman]]. By season two, with Whitney's departure, Lana and Clark begin to grow closer. Clark's dishonesty over the secrets he is hiding causes their relationship to end, and forces Lana into the arms of [[Lex Luthor (Smallville)|Lex Luthor]]. Eventually, Lana learns the truth about Clark and they get back together. Ultimately, Lana absorbs an enormous amount of [[Kryptonite]] radiation, which prohibits her from getting too close to Clark, and she leaves both Smallville and Clark.
▲Initially, Lana is characterized as the gullible "[[girl next door]]",<ref name="KK2">Simpson, Paul, (Season 2 Companion), pp.120-123</ref> who is always demanding the truth and thus believing whatever lies are told to her. She eventually becomes a tragic figure in ''Smallville'', as the decisions made by Clark and Lex change the character over the course of the show. Kreuk has been nominated by various awards for her portrayal of Lana Lang.
==Role in ''Smallville''==
In the [[Smallville (season 1)|first season]], Lana and [[Clark Kent (Smallville)|Clark Kent]] ([[Tom Welling]]) are just beginning their friendship, as she is a popular cheerleader dating star quarterback [[
During the second meteor shower, Lana witnesses the landing of an alien spacecraft, and two alien beings emerging and killing everyone in sight in the [[Smallville (season 5)|season five]] premiere.<ref name="Arrival ep">{{cite episode|title=Arrival|series=Smallville|credits=Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer (writers) & James Marshall (director)|network=The WB|airdate=September 29, 2005|season=5|number=1}}</ref> The spaceship becomes Lana's primary focus in season five, officially teaming up with Lex Luthor to discover the mystery behind the ship in the episode "Splinter".<ref name="Splinter ep">{{cite episode|title=Splinter|series=Smallville|credits=Steven S. DeKnight (writer) & James Marshall (director)|network=The WB|airdate=November 10, 2005|season=5|number=7}}</ref> When her relationship with Clark hits a breaking point in season five's "Hypnotic",<ref name="Hypnotic ep">{{cite episode|title=Hypnotic|series=Smallville|credits=Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer (writers) & Michael Rohl (director)|network=The WB|airdate=May 30, 2006|season=5|number=16}}</ref> she begins to grow closer to Lex.<ref name="Oracle ep">{{cite episode|title=Oracle|series=Smallville|credits=Josh Schwartz (writer) & Patrick Norris (director)|network=The WB|airdate=May 4, 2006|season=5|number=20}}</ref> The relationship with Lex eventually leads to marriage in the [[Smallville (season 6)|season six]] episode "Promise", but not before Lana discovers Clark's secret and realizes why he has been lying to her all these years.<ref name="Promise ep">{{cite episode|title=Promise|series=Smallville|credits=Kelly Souders, Brian Peterson (writers) & Rick Rosenthal (director)|network=The WB|airdate=March 15, 2007|season=6|number=16}}</ref> When she learns that Lex set up a fake pregnancy in order to get her to marry him in the season six finale "Phantom", Lana effectively ends the marriage and fakes her own death to escape Lex after he threatens her. She also frames Lex for her murder, to punish him for his betrayal.<ref name="Phantom ep">{{cite episode|title=Phantom|series=Smallville|credits=Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer (writers) & James Marshall (director)|network=The WB|airdate=May 17, 2007|season=6|number=22}}</ref> It is revealed at the start of [[Smallville (season 7)|season seven]] that her effort fails, but as part of the "settlement" of their divorce, Lex makes sure that Lana does not go to jail for her actions.<ref name="Kara ep">{{cite episode|title=Kara|series=Smallville|credits=Todd Slavkin, Darren Swimmer (writers) & James Conway (director)|network=The WB|airdate=October 4, 2007|season=7|number=2}}</ref>
With Clark's secret no longer an issue, the two begin a real relationship in the season seven episode "Fierce".<ref name="Fierce ep">{{cite episode|title=Fierce|series=Smallville|credits=Holly Harold (writer) & Whitney Ransick (director)|network=[[The CW Television Network]]|airdate=October 11, 2007|season=7|number=3}}</ref> Lana becomes obsessed with making Lex pay for all his crimes against humanity, which causes her to develop the Isis Foundation, using $10 million she stole from Lex. The Isis Foundation is a counseling center for kryptonite-infected people, but it doubles as a front for Lana's surveillance on Lex. Her obsessions also begin to affect her relationship with Clark by the episode "Wrath".<ref name="Wrath ep">{{cite episode|title=Wrath|series=Smallville|credits=Kelly Souders, Brian Peterson (writers) & Charles Beeson (director)|network=The WB|airdate=November 8, 2007|season=7|number=7}}</ref> Eventually, Lana realizes that, even though she loves him, the only way for Clark to help the world to the best of his ability would be if she left Clark and Smallville for good, which she does in the season seven finale.<ref name="Arctic ep">{{cite episode|title=Arctic|series=Smallville|credits=Don Whitehead, Holly Henderson (writers) & Todd Slavkin (director)|network=The CW|airdate=May 15, 2008|season=7|number=20}}</ref>
In the [[Smallville (season 8)|season eight]] episode "Bride", [[Oliver Queen (Smallville)|Oliver Queen]] ([[Justin Hartley]]), believing he is tracking Lex Luthor who has been missing since the season seven finale, discovers Lana instead. Oliver convinces her to return to Smallville so that she can attend Chloe's wedding.<ref>{{cite episode|title=Bride|series=Smallville|credits=Al Septien & Turi Meyer (writers) & Allison Mack (director)|network=The CW|airdate=November 20, 2008|season=8|number=10}}</ref> In the season eight episode "Power", it is revealed that Lana really returned so that she could steal Lex's "Prometheus" technology for herself, which harnesses alien DNA into a [[nanite]] "super-suit" to give the wearer superhuman abilities. By the end of the episode, the procedure is complete, and Lana becomes just as strong and invulnerable as Clark.<ref>{{cite episode|title=Power|series=Smallville|credits=Al Septien & Turi Meyer (writers) & Allison Mack (director)|network=The CW|airdate=January 29, 2009|season=8|number=13}}</ref> In the episode "Requiem", Lana discovers that her suit absorbs kryptonite, but also emits the radiation making her a potential danger to Clark. When [[Winslow Schott]] puts a kryptonite bomb on the roof of the ''Daily Planet'' under Lex's orders, Lana is forced to absorb all of the kryptonite to deactivate the bomb. As a result, she leaves Smallville to go on her own quest as Clark can no longer get near her without the kryptonite radiation hurting him.<ref>{{cite episode|title=Requiem|series=Smallville|credits=Don Whitehead & Holly Henderson (writers) & Michael Rohl (director)|network=The CW|airdate=February 5, 2009|season=8|number=14}}</ref>
==Portrayal==
Creators [[Alfred Gough]] and [[Miles Millar]] were initially trying to find someone for the role of Clark Kent, but Kristin Kreuk was the first to be cast, as Lana Lang. Casting director Coreen Mayrs sent [[David Nutter]], the director of the [[Pilot (Smallville)|pilot episode]], a tape of
At the time she was cast as Lana, Kreuk had no idea who the character was in [[Superman]] lore. Her uncle, who owned a comic book shop, filled her in on the details and she learned more from the producers. Kreuk realized that the character in the comics and her character on the show were two different people. As a result, Kreuk
Kreuk enjoyed the [[Smallville (season 4)|fourth season]] because it gave her the chance to stretch her acting abilities with
==Character development==
===Storyline progression===
One of the early turning points for the character came in season
Season two also showed
===Characterization===
At the start of the show, Lana Lang is characterized as the [[girl next door]]. As Kreuk describes her, she is the "beautiful, popular girl who is really lonely". She has a "hole in her heart", because of the loss of her parents, and feels empathy for everyone.<ref name="Kristin"
As Alfred Gough sees it, Lana is a
Reviewer Jennifer Malkowski feels that Lana is one of the most gullible characters on television. According to Malkowski, Lana's strong feminist stance, and her request that people should stop protecting her and start telling her the truth, are diluted by her willingness to believe whatever pieces of information she gets, even if they are lies.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jennifer Malkowski |url=http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/smallvilleseason5.php |title=Season 5 review |publisher=DVD Verdict |date=October 16, 2006 |access-date=September 15, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206143509/http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/smallvilleseason5.php |archive-date=December 6, 2008}}</ref> After the series ended, Gough and Millar expressed regret with Lana's characterization throughout the course of the show, which they felt damaged Lana in the audiences' mind. Gough and Millar believed that Lana's behavior toward Clark (for refusing to reveal his secret) made her come across as cold and unsympathetic.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sundance.tv/series/the-writers-room/blog/2014/04/interview-with-smallville-creators-alfred-gough-and-miles-millar |title=The Writers' Room - "The Writers' Room" Interview: "Smallville" creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar – SundanceTV |access-date=September 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006112413/http://www.sundance.tv/series/the-writers-room/blog/2014/04/interview-with-smallville-creators-alfred-gough-and-miles-millar |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
===Relationships===
When ''Smallville'' first began, Lana was in a romantic relationship with Whitney Fordman, the star quarterback of the football team. Kreuk believes that Lana truly was in love with Whitney when they first started dating, but by the time the audience first sees her in [[Pilot (Smallville)|the pilot]] she is no longer in that same state of mind. Kreuk believes that by the time of the pilot Lana had grown
The friendship that Lana shares with Chloe was deeply damaged at the start of season three, so much so that not even Kreuk realized how badly until the episode "Truth". Lana is aware that Chloe still has romantic feelings for Clark, but their friendship suffered the most when Chloe revealed that she had known where Clark had been hiding for months. The feelings of distrust for Chloe remained hidden until "Truth"—where Chloe gained the ability to have others speak the truth no matter what—when Lana finally revealed how much she cannot trust Chloe.<ref name="KK3"/> This developing friendship between Lex and Lana puts a strain on
While in Paris, Lana begins a new romantic relationship with Jason Teague. Kreuk believes that Lana did love Jason Teague, but she also still loved Clark at the same time. With Clark, it was the "first love" that she never had the chance to discover, and that lingered with her while she was in Paris during the space between
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The beginning of season five saw, for the first time, Clark and Lana in a happy relationship together, one that was void of dishonesty and secrets. The return of
Even though Lana eventually marries Lex in season six, Al Gough argues that Lana still loved Clark and Clark still loved her. The only reason Lana was with Lex was because Clark forced her in that direction and she ended up getting in over her head.<ref name="KK6">Byrne, Craig, (Season 6 Companion) pp. 116-119</ref> By contrast, writer Caroline Dries feels that Lana did love Lex, and that she did not make any hasty decisions when she agreed to marry him. Dries believes that the progression of the show demonstrates that Lex earned
==Reception==
In 2001, Kristin Kreuk was nominated for a [[Saturn Award]] for [[Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television|Best Actress]], as well as Female Cinescape Genre Face of the Future.<ref name="awards">{{cite web|url=http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#tvsupportingactor |title=Saturn Television Awards |publisher=[[Saturn Awards]] |
|publisher=SF Site|date=February 13, 2004|
DVD Verdict's Brian Byun felt that the casting of the series was "pitch-perfect"; noting that Kreuk is "painfully luminous" as Lana Lang, which makes it obvious why she is the object of Clark’s obsession.<ref>{{cite news|author=Brian Byun|url=http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/smallvilleseason1.php|title=Season 1 review|publisher=DVD Verdict|date=November 24, 2003|accessdate=September 15, 2008}}</ref>▼
▲DVD Verdict's Brian Byun felt that the casting of the series was "pitch-perfect"
==Other media appearances==
===Young adult novels===
Lana makes her first literary appearance in ''Smallville: Strange Visitors'', published by [[Hachette Book Group USA#
===Comic books===
Lana made a non-speaking cameo appearance in the ninth issue of the show's comic book continuation ''Smallville: Season Eleven'', written by executive story editor [[Bryan Q. Miller]]. Though Clark and [[Bart Allen]] do not notice her, she watches them race over the coast of [[Cameroon]].<ref>''Smallville Season 11'' vol. 1 #9 (January 2013)</ref> Lana returns in a parallel story arc ''Valkyrie'' in which she uses the superhero alias "Angel of the Plateau" and battles terrorists in Africa. Lana also saves Lois from one of their attacks. Lana reveals that she has been using her abilities to help and protect children from people who would exploit them after Lana had settled in Africa. However, Lois tries not to reveal her relationship with Clark to Lana. Elsewhere, the terrorists seek [[Metallo|John Corben]]'s aid in defeating Angel of the Plateau. Corben's new kryptonite heart (installed by Winslow Schott) has absorbed the nanites embedded in Lana's skin, rendering her powerless and no longer emitting the kryptonite radiation once more. After Lois helps Lana defeat Corben, Lana reveals that she had seen Lois's engagement ring, thus she already knows about Clark's relationship with Lois. Lana gives her blessing to Lois, and decides to remain in Africa as the Angel.<ref>''Smallville Season 11 Specials'' #2 (June 2013)</ref>
==References==
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{{Smallville}}
{{Superman characters}}
{{Good article}}
[[Category:DC Comics characters in other media]]▼
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Lana}}
[[Category:DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds]]
[[Category:DC Comics characters with superhuman strength]]
[[Category:DC Comics characters with accelerated healing]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Fictional adoptees]]▼
[[Category:Fictional businesspeople]]
[[Category:Fictional cheerleaders]]
[[Category:Smallville characters]]
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▲[[fr:Lana Lang (Smallville)]]
▲[[hu:Lana Lang (Smallville)]]
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