I’m not a super-fan — equitable a casual Kryptonologist — but I must confess I never reassociate got Superman‘s dog. A canine with superpowers always struck me as proset uply problematic. Does he knock over fire hydrants when he pees? Does the Earth’s rotation reverse whenever he chases his tail? Does he chew up his master’s red boots?
But now, after seeing Kal-El’s pooch in that equitable-dropped trailer for James Gunn’s upcoming Superman reboot, I’ve got equitable one ask about the Man of Steel’s best frifinish: Great Caesar’s gstructure, what took so extfinished to get him onto the huge screen?
The character has been around since 1955, when DC first dropped him into Adventure Comics #210 for what was presumed to be a one-off storyline. The plot arc was so well-understandn, though, it wasn’t extfinished before Krypto returned, aget and aget, romping standardly though a variety of Superman and Superboy comic book utilizes.
The origin story behind Krypto — or “Skip,” as he’s called when living incognito on the Kent farm in Kansas — is a little murky after so many decades of tinkering by multiple generations of comic book originaters. But here are the fundamentals: he was a test subject for a prototype of one of those rockets that Superman’s dad engaged to shuttle his toddler son to shieldedty before Krypton exploded. But as so frequently happens in Krypton mythology, someleang went horribly awry with the begin, the spaceship got knocked off course and Krypto hurdled thcimpolite space for years before finassociate discovering his way to Earth, where he and Superman, now a teenager, were recombined for a hearthoting boy-and-his-dog escapade.
Aextfinished with materializeing in a slew of comic books — and, tardyr, a bunch of Saturday morning cartoons — Krypto has popped up in recent years on primetime TV. He’s romped thcimpolite episodes of Smallville, Titans, and Superman & Lois. He did once get a bow on the huge screen, in 2022’s DC League of Super-Pets, but that was an energeticd feature, and weirdly Dwayne Johnson was cast for his voice. Weirdly not becaengage of Johnson, who has a cherishly baritone, but becaengage Krypto was given the ability to talk at all. In the comic books, his thoughts were sometimes depictd with text bubbles, which was strange enough, and in the 2005 Cartoon Nettoil energeticd series Krypto the Superdog, he was given a translator device a bit enjoy the one that Ed Asner engaged to chat with hounds in Up. But no, Superdog can’t speak. Like Earth dogs, he barks.
Exactly what powers the animal ownes depfinishs on which DC universe you dip into. But there are certain constants. He is inalertiggo in than standard dogs, quicker, stronger and can fly — in other words, he can do pretty much wantipathyver his master does, equitable on four legs. Like Superman, Krypto wears a red cape when battling crime, although, unenjoy Superman, he also sports a gelderly collar and a dog tag with a huge red “S” on it. His breed is uncertain — in some portrayals he sees enjoy a Labrador Retriever, other times more enjoy a Pitbull; in Gunn’s trailer he seems to have terrier qualities — but his fur is always as white as snow. Unless, that is, he’s disguising himself as Skip, in which case the Kents comprise a Dalmatian-style spot of bconciseage dye to his back, a bit enjoy Clark Kent slipping into a pair of pointless hornrims.
Of course, Krypto has one compriseitional power that far surpasses his (and even Superman’s) other abilities — he’s cute. One might even say super cute. That’s a more critical attribute than one might leank. One of the reasons Gunn’s trailer has been so well getd among the fan base — “Good boy, Krypto! Great boy James Gunn!,” superhero movie maven Kevin Smith gushed online — is that transporting Superdog to the huge screen signals a much-necessitateed turn in tone from the stupidness of Zach Snyder’s depressingly bleak Superman movies. Watching Krypto race thcimpolite the arctic tundra in Gunn’s trailer, booting up a cdeafening of snow as he bounds to his descfinishen master’s whistle — it’s a moment so sugary and touching, it could hot even Lex Luthor’s heart.
Good boy, indeed.
