The Big Picture
Smallville
‘s Clark Kent has an expansive family, including adoptive parents, a maternal grandfather, and extended family from the Kent and Clark families.
Clark’s biological family, the House of El, includes his parents Jor-El and Lara, as well as his paternal uncle Zor-El and his cousin Supergirl (Kara Zor-El).
Through marriage to Lois Lane, Clark becomes part of her family, which includes her father and sister, as well as his childhood best friend Chloe Sullivan and her extended family.
Having run for 10 years in the early 2000s, first on The WB and then later on the newly-formed The CW, Smallville has had a lasting impact on both television and the live-action superhero genre. In many ways, Tom Welling’s Clark Kent paved the way for other comic book heroes to find new life on the small screen, and as a result, we experienced a boom in comic book-inspired television throughout the 2010s. This boom has lasted through to the present day, where rumors of an animated Smallville revival persist. But, of all the characters who show up on the hit series, who is actually related to our future Man of Steel? Well, if you’ve gotten confused once or twice trying to keep all of Clark’s extended family members straight, we’re here to help you through it.
Smallville
A young Clark Kent struggles to find his place in the world as he learns to harness his alien powers for good and deals with the typical troubles of teenage life in Smallville, Kansas.
Release Date October 16, 2001
Creator Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
Seasons 10
Studio The CW
‘Smallville’s Kent Family Is More Expansive Than You Think
The most obvious members of Clark Kent’s family come from his adoptive parents, Jonathan (John Schneider) and Martha Kent (Annette O’Toole), who found him in a field in the pilot episode. From there, they adopt a young Kal-El (renamed Clark Kent, after Martha’s maiden name) as their own, since they couldn’t have children. Jonathan eventually dies of a heart attack after Clark graduates from high school, while Martha goes on to take her husband’s seat in the Senate and continue as a career politician while Clark stays in Kansas to take care of the farm. It’s also worth noting that in Season 2, after being exposed to the healing properties in Clark’s ship, Martha is able to conceive a child, but tragically miscarries due to an explosion in the season finale “Exodus.”
While Clark doesn’t have much family around growing up, he occasionally writes to his maternal grandfather, William Clark (George Coe), though he never receives a response. William does appear in Season 2’s “Redux,” but never takes a particular interest in Clark’s life, especially given that he never approved of his daughter’s choice of a husband (and career). On the other side of the Kent family tree, Jonathan’s parents, Hiram (Dean Wray) and Jessica Kent (Kendall Cross), die before Clark ever made it to Earth. However, as told in the Smallville Season 3 episode “Relic,” they do aid a young drifter named Joe (who was secretly Clark’s biological father, Jor-El) back in the early 1960s after he was accused of murder. This left a positive impression on Jor-El, who eventually chooses the Kent family to ultimately raise his son after Krypton’s destruction.
As far as we know, Clark doesn’t have any uncles, aunts, or cousins out there through the Kent or Clark families, though he’s come close to having brother figures at one time or another. In Season 1, the Kent family aids a young telepathic boy named Ryan James (Ryan Kelly), whom Clark quickly sees as a surrogate younger brother. The following season, they helped Ryan again, only for the young boy to die of a brain tumor soon after. In Smallville’s Season 4 episode “Ageless,” Clark and Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) briefly become surrogate parents/siblings to a young boy named Evan Gallager (Jeffrey Ballard), who dies in only days due to his rapid aging. Ryan and Evan might not have been family, but they saw Clark as theirs.
Clark’s Alien DNA Is An Important Part of the ‘Smallville’ Family Tree
On Clark’s biological side, things tend to get a little more complicated. Of course, his father Jor-El (generally played by Julian Sands) and his mother Lara (Helen Slater) are the ones who bring him into this world (originally naming him Kal-El) and ultimately save him from Krypton’s fate. On different occasions, Jor-El and Lara were cloned, and each of these clones is able to meet with their son during his adult life. Jor-El, in particular, interacts with Clark constantly during his decade-long trial that is Smallville through the artificial intelligence version voiced by Superman II star Terence Stamp. The A.I. Jor-El is only a machine, of course, but it ultimately fulfills the will of the original.
Additionally, Clark’s paternal uncle, Zor-El (Christopher Heyerdahl), becomes an enemy of the House of El later in life, conspiring with General Zod to destroy Krypton. Decades later, Zor-El’s clone would fail to murder Clark. But Zor-El does one good thing in life, and that is save his daughter Kara Zor-El (Laura Vandervoort) from Krypton’s end. Though Kara arrives on Earth at the same time as Clark, she is frozen in stasis for decades until she is freed. In Season 7, Clark helps his cousin adapt to life on Earth, and she later grows into the hero known as Supergirl. Speaking of heroes, let’s not forget that in Season 10, Clark discovers that Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) once cloned him by mixing their human and Kryptonian genetic material. As a result, Alexander Luthor aka Conner Kent (Lucas Grabeel) was born. Eventually, Conner becomes Superboy (or Kon-El) after being inspired by Clark’s superheroics and shedding his Luthor name. In a way, Clark is actually Conner’s father, though the two of them consider each other more like brothers. Conner even stays with Martha Kent in Washington D.C. for a while.
Things get especially complicated when you consider that some of Clark’s greatest enemies also share some of his DNA. Bizarro, for example, is an imperfect clone of Clark who was once a phantom that Jor-El banished to the Phantom Zone. With Clark’s appearance and memories, Bizarro attempts to steal our hero’s life before his ultimate destruction. General Zod, too, shares some DNA with our favorite farm boy after Clark uses the healing properties in his blood to save a younger clone of Zod, making them “blood brothers.” This gives Zod the ability to open a portal to the Phantom Zone (as it was tied to the House of El’s bloodline) before Clark destroys it in the final season.
Clark Kent and Lois Lane Unite Their Families in Marriage on ‘Smallville’
Marriage has a way of bringing people together, and in this case, that includes the families of Clark Kent and Lois Lane (Erica Durance). After years of beating around the bush, Clark and Lois agree to tie the knot in Season 10, which means that by the time they do marry (sometime after the series finale), their families merge into one. On Lois’ side, that means Clark receives a father-in-law in General Sam Lane (Michael Ironside) and a sister-in-law in the form of Lucy Lane (Peyton List). Unfortunately, Clark never gets to meet Lois’ mother, Ella Lane (played by Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman actress Teri Hatcher). Ella Lane dies of cancer before Lois shows up on the show, but in Season 10, she (Lois) watches a video that Ella had recorded for her prior to her death.
Related ‘Smallville’s Justice League Episode Changed the Course of the Show Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Cyborg reporting for duty.
In addition to Lois’ immediate family, Clark now becomes related to his childhood best friend Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack), who happens to be Lois’ first cousin. Chloe’s parents, Gabe (Eric Keenleyside, Robert Wisden) and Moria Sullivan (Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter), are also included now as extended members of Clark’s family by marriage, as is Chloe’s husband, Oliver Queen aka the Green Arrow (Justin Hartley). In the flash-forward at the very end of the series, it’s revealed that Chloe and Oliver even have a son together, one whom the Smallville Season 11 comic series names Jonathan Queen (Matthias Luers), in honor of Clark’s late adoptive father.
Though they eventually divorce, Chloe marries Henry James “Jimmy” Olsen (Aaron Ashmore) during Season 8 of Smallville, making Jimmy Lois’ cousin-in-law, at least for a time. The final two seasons likewise reveal that Jimmy’s younger brother, James Bartholomew “Jimmy” Olsen (also played by Ashmore), later works alongside Clark and Lois at the Daily Planet. They may not be married anymore, but Chloe and Jimmy reconcile shortly before the latter’s death, so there’s definitely still a familial connection there.
The Arrowverse’s ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ Shows Clark and Lois’ Children
Image via The CW
In 2019, nearly a decade after Smallville went off the air, Tom Welling and Erica Durance returned as Clark Kent and Lois Lane for the Arrowverse’s crossover special titled Crisis on Infinite Earths. Here we learn that years after being Superman, Clark gave up his powers for the sake of his family. Lex Luthor became the President of the United States, but somehow that didn’t worry Clark anymore. Instead, he and Lois have settled down on the farm and are now raising at least two young girls. Whether you consider this moment to be a true epilogue to the Smallville story or not, it’s worth noting that Clark and Lois seem to have children of their own now. Who knows, maybe they too might one day follow in their father’s footsteps?
Smallville is available to watch on Hulu in the U.S.
Watch on Hulu