Alas, we're losing Lex! E!Online is reporting that Michael Rosenbaum and the Smallville Powers That Be have announced that Lex won't be back for the show next season -- not even in the recurring role that they'd been hyping.
Here's an excerpt from Michael's letter to fans: "It is time for me to start the next chapter of my life and career. I hope that I gave you some enjoyment over the years, and that you found my portrayal of Lex Luthor to be satisfying. I am truly grateful, as Smallville fans are the best fans out there. I sincerely hope that you will continue to follow my career through my hair growth period and beyond."
Sounds like he's definitely through, doesn't it? The folks on the production side are holding out a bit of hope, however: "It has been an honor and pleasure to work with Michael for the past six seasons. He is one of the best actors on television and has never failed to bring a new layer to the character of Lex Luthor in every episode. While Michael won't be a series regular and we won't have the pleasure of working with him on a weekly basis this fall, we like to think that we haven't seen the last of Lex Luthor. Stay tuned."
But while they're hoping to get Lex back for a visit, they're not slacking in the villainy department. Season 8 will see the debut of Doomsday, the only villain that has ever been able to kill Superman. (He got better.) We're looking forward to that storyline, although we're a bit concerned: Will this be the mindless killing-machine Doomsday of the Death of Superman storyline, the "jokerized" Doomsday of the Last Laugh storyline, or something else entirely?
There's also an unspecified female villain who the producers aren't spilling much about. They promise "she will be familiar to many fans and will set her sights on Clark in ways Lex never could. Intelligent, brilliantly manipulative, and dangerously sinister, our gorgeous new villain has one more weapon in her arsenal: Her mutual attraction with Clark may prove to be as deadly as Kryptonite for him." Who could this new villain be? Blaze? Maxima? Faora/Ursa? Silver Banshee? Or someone else from the DC universe, or further afield?
What do you think of this news? Will you watch with no lex? Are you excited about the new villains? Talk about it in the comments!