Smallville fans brace yourself - while the series may be coming back next season, two of the main characters won't be. Entertainment Weekly's Mike Ausiello has discovered from an insider on the show that two pivotal characters will die, and he says that both of these deaths will be the real deal. "These characters will die and they will stay dead," the source confirmed, "This is the real deal."

Now, being grounded in comic book roots, expect there to be a Smallville style twist, but these twists apparently do not involve either character coming back to life.

The burning question on everyone's mind, of course will be who these two characters are. On that point, sources remain quiet, but Ausiello does say that "one character qualifies as a Smallville vet... the other one, not so much."

The obvious choice there, of course, would suggest that the vet is the character of Chloe Sullivan. While Alison Mack's character is one of the most loved on the show, the fact remains that Ms. Sullivan is not a part of Superman continuity, and it was hinted in Legion that her death would be the event that motivates Clark to eventually become Superman. As for the non-vet, the smart money points to either Cassidy Freeman's Tess Mercer, who has made herself a major target for retribution by Lex Luthor, or Davis Bloome, as played by Sam Witwer. This doesn't mean that Bloome's Kryptonian "other half", Doomsday, will die, of course. But the Bloome aspect of the monster may not be long for the world.

Smallville airs Thursday nights on the CW. The drama about the early days of Clark Kent stars Tom Welling, Erica Durance, Allison Mack, Aaron Ashmore, Justin Hartley, Cassidy Freeman and Sam Witwer.