The CW's series Superman & Lois gives the audience a new take on a familiar storyline with its X-Kryptonite. In the show, Smallville residents find themselves with superpowers due in large part to their exposure to the Kryptonian rock. It's not unlike Clark Kent repeatedly protecting Smallville residents after they gained temporary abilities in the older WB series named for the small town. The difference here is that those abilities come with a catch.
The special abilities are all Kryptonian powers instead of tailored to each individual. That's because the show features not just super powers, but the implanting of the consciousnesses of long-gone Kryptonians into the minds of humans. It gives a new twist to the story, but it also borrows from an old Supergirl comic book storyline that involved the ghosts of Kryptonians being able to possess others. Lesla-Lar even took over Supergirl's body on occasion. The storyline has a lot of differences, but it does bring up an interesting question. Will those Kryptonian-possessed-humans see lasting consequences? Could any of Smallville's residents retain those powers?
Superman & Lois Features A Lot Of Kryptonian-Possessed-Humans
Over the course of the first season, there are a lot of Smallville residents who end up with Kryptonian powers and former residents of Superman's home planet in their heads. As Lois Lane discovers, Smallville residents have been exposed to the X-Kryptonite over so many years, making them particularly susceptible to a "resurrection" program for Kryptonians. That's been Morgan Edge's real endgame all along, creating a force of Kryptonians to rebuild his race. Morgan Edge, of course, is actually a Kryptonian named Tar-Ro. He has at least a dozen Smallville residents in his program, not just the five Lois Lane and Lana Cushing know about.
When Lana Cushing volunteers to undergo the resurrection process to put Superman's mother Lara in her own mind, it's a big leap of faith for her. It's also meant to assuage her guilt at bringing so many Smallville residents into Tar-Ro's clutches. What it does, however, is provide the audience with a whole lot of information.
Lara created the program as a way to keep memories of lost Kryptonians alive. It's not supposed to be used as a way for them to take over a new planet. She also reveals that the more a host body accepts its Kryptonian resident, the harder it is to expel that resident. The Kryptonian consciousness might have lingering effects on the human who hosted them. It could take anywhere from days to months before the effects are gone completely.
Leslie Larr Remains The Lone Kryptonian-Human
Morgan Edge's assistant Leslie Larr is seemingly the last human being with a Kryptonian consciousness left after Superman and his mother figure out a way to stop Edge's plan. It makes sense that she would retain the consciousness. After all, former Smallville resident Irma was the first successful test subject before she became Leslie Laa. She lived with a Kryptonian in her head the longest and holds an unwavering loyalty to her boss. Clearly, Leslie completely accepted the change. Irma is no more.
If acceptance is key, however, there could be other Smallville residents who see lingering effects of the process. All of the "executive program" members Lana handpicked for Morgan Edge were people who wanted to make massive changes to their lives. They didn't know exactly what they were getting into. All of them still said yes when Edge offered them up a dangerous deal. The audience sees that the Smallville residents aren't fully aware of their actions when their Kryptonian personas take over.
In fact, they only exhibit Kryptonian abilities when their alien passenger is in control. Kyle Cushing, who went to Edge for help without understanding the results of the program, completely blacks out when the Kryptonian inside him is in charge, seemingly remembering nothing about him ending up at the Kent family farm to attack Lois and her sons.
The only person who fully knew what they were getting into was Lana Lang Cushing.
Could Superman & Lois Give Lana Kryptonian Abilities
Lana volunteered specifically for Lara-El to be placed in her mind. Unlike the other Smallville residents who looked to improve their lives or wanted a higher-paying job, Lana had no illusions about what would happen to her. She also knew the risk existed that she could lose her body to Lara permanently. Lana's sense of responsibility to Smallville made her volunteer herself for Lara's vessel.
Her complete willingness to be a host would mean that she would have been the most accepting of the Kryptonian consciousness. Lara didn't exhibit any Kryptonian abilities while in Lana's body. She did, however, have all of her knowledge about how the machine worked and Krypton's history. Presumably, Lana won't have access to those memories after the fact. If she did, she'd be aware that Clark Kent is Superman. The other changes that would have occurred, however, were more physiological.
It will be interesting to see if Lana is somehow able to access Kryptonian abilities in the coming episodes. One timeline in the comics does see her become Superwoman. It would be a nice change for Lana to get to step up and protect her town in this version of Superman's story. Many older stories have killed her off instead to move the plot forward. Lana has always wanted what is best for Smallville. Her having super strength or the ability to fly would certainly help her keep her neighbors safe. It would also add an interesting dynamic to the Cushing-Kent families as they're already close and keeping secrets from one another.
That might be a story for season 2 of Superman & Lois since there are only a handful of episodes left in the first season.