Krypto, a dog with superpowers from Superman’s home planet Krypton, will make an appearance in James Gunn’s upcoming film Superman, the filmmaker announced on Tuesday.
Although Krypto the superdog wasn’t initially planned to appear in the upcoming film starring David Corenswet, Gunn revealed that adopting his pet dog Ozu shortly after starting work on the script inspired him to include the beloved character.
“Krypto arrives on screens in Superman this summer. Krypto was inspired by our dog Ozu, who we adopted shortly after I started writing Superman. Ozu, who came from a hoarding situation in a backyard with 60 other dogs & never knew human beings, was problematic to say the least. He immediately came in & destroyed our home, our shoes, our furniture - he even ate my laptop. It took a long time before he would even let us touch him.”
Wondering how difficult it would be if Ozu had superpowers, the Suicide Squad director said that he based Krypto on the characteristics of his own dog. “And thus Krypto came into the script & changed the shape of the story as Ozu was changing my life. What better time to debut the not-so-good-good-boy Krypto than #AdoptAShelterDog Month. Btw, Ozu today, is, fairly often, a very good boy,” he concluded his note, which he penned to mark Adopt a Shelter Dog month.
In the first-look shared by Gunn, Corenswet’s Superman and Krypto can be seen sitting on the surface of a planet, possibly Krypton, and gazing at the Earth. Gunn also shared a heartwarming picture of him and Ozu, and a picture from a comic book panel featuring Superman and Krypto.
Krypto, best known as Kypto the Superdog, is a white dog from the planet Krypton and Superman’s loyal pet. Thanks to Earth’s yellow sun, Krypto possesses superpowers like Superman, including immense strength, the ability to fly, enhanced senses and heat vision.
Krypto has appeared in several live-action series like Smallville and Titans, as well as the animated film, DC League of Super-Pets. The upcoming James Gunn directorial will mark his big screen debut.
Gunn’s upcoming movie, previously titled Superman: Legacy, is the first film in DCU's Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. Apart from Corenswet, Superman also stars House of Cards actress Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, while British actor Nicholas Hoult is set to play Superman’s arch-enemy Lex Luthor. The rest of the cast includes Anthony Carrigan, Skyler Gisondo, Nathan Fillon, Isabela Mercad and Edi Gathegi.
Gunn wrapped up filming for Superman in July, he announced with a nostalgic photo of the cast and crew from the initial week of filming in Svalbard, Norway. The film is slated to release on July 11, 2025.
Known for directing the Guardian of the Galaxy films, The Suicide Squad (2021) and the original Max series Peacemaker (2022), Gunn has also written the screenplay for the upcoming superhero movie.
