What happened to Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) after Smallville ended? The 2019-2020 Arrowverse crossover event, "Crisis on Infinite Earths", featured cameo appearances from Clark Kent (Tom Welling) and Lois Lane (Erica Durance) that explored what the characters have been up to, and it was even said that Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) became the President. However, there was no mention of Lana Lang, who was one of the main characters on Smallville for several years.

Lana, who originally lived next door to Clark, was his main love interest for the first seven seasons of Smallville. For the first six seasons, Clark and Lana had an on-and-off relationship and a "will they, won't they" dynamic that was complicated by Clark's reluctance to tell her the truth about his Kryptonian heritage. After Clark finally told her his secret in the Smallville season 6 finale, Lana became an ally to Clark in season 7, but left the series after being kidnapped off-screen by Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman). Lana returned for five episodes in season 8 on a mission to acquire super powers. After getting what she wanted and incidentally, having her body infused with Kryptonite, she was no longer able to come near Clark without hurting him. After a tearful farewell, Lana left Smallville and never returned.

When Lana said goodbye to Clark in Smallville season 8, she made it clear that she wanted to use her new powers for good. While what Lana actually did after being forced to leave Clark was never mentioned on the show itself, the Smallville season 11 comic featured a few appearances from Lana Lang. In a brief scene, Lana is shown in Africa watching Clark running alongside Bart Allen in secret. Clark never notices her presence. In a later story arc, the Daily Planet sends Lois to Africa to report on an unidentified vigilante who has been dubbed "Angel of the Plateau". As it turns out, the Angel of the Plateau is Lana, who has apparently embraced Clark's red and blue color scheme.


Lois discovers that Lana has become a guardian of sorts to a group of orphaned children. While there, Lois finds a scrapbook that shows she's been keeping up with Clark's activities as Superman. Later, Lois and Lana get caught in a battle with classic Superman villain, Metallo. After Metallo absorbs the Kryptonite from Lana's body, she's left powerless. However, the two defeat Metallo and part ways, with Lana planning on staying in Africa to protect the children. Despite her new situation, Lana begins working for Smallville's Justice League remotely, under the name "Valkyrie" and provides information to Watchtower from Africa.

So even though Lana no longer has the powers she left Smallville with, she's still trying to follow Clark's example by helping people. As for why Lana opted not to go back to Smallville even though she can be around Clark again for the first time in years, the explanation could be similar to the one she gave Clark for leaving in the first place. In season 8, she thought it would be too painful for her to be around him if they couldn't be together, and though Kryptonite no longer stands in their way, Clark's relationship with Lois does. It's not clear if Lana was ever able to move on from Clark (though the scrapbook and the scene of her watching him running hint that she hasn't), but it is clear that Lana - even without powers - was able to continue following Clark's example by doing what she could to help people in need.