Since Superman has been in the public consciousness for decades, it’s only fitting that writer-director James Gunn dispenses with the character’s origin story in the new Superman. Through a series of intertitles, we’re told that metahumans arrived on Earth three centuries ago, a baby Kal-El came crashing down on a farm in Smallville three decades ago, Superman (David Corenswet) announced himself to the public three years ago, and that the Man of Steel just got his ass handed to him three minutes ago. Right off the bat, our seemingly indestructible hero proves to be vulnerable, and he could sure use (super)man’s best friend. Enter Krypto.
With a whistle, an ailing Superman summons the superdog to his side, and, based on what we saw from the teaser trailer, you expect Krypto to dutifully help his owner back to the Fortress of Solitude. It, uh, doesn’t quite go down like that. A hyperactive Krypto starts jumping up and down on Superman’s body—with every impact, Superman barks out in pain. “STOP!” Superman repeatedly pleads like the victim in a slasher flick. Krypto eventually calms down enough to take Superman’s cape in his mouth and drag him home, where Kryptonian robots come to their master’s aid. But the problems don’t stop here, as Krypto has also laid waste to the Fortress of Solitude; one of the robots reminds Superman that the dog is “unruly,” which is about as insightful as telling a defender that Steph Curry shouldn’t be left alone behind the 3-point arc.
Less than 15 minutes into Superman, it’s clear that Krypto is going to be the movie’s runaway MVP. Rendered through CGI, Krypto is an impressive technical achievement—has a fake dog ever looked so real on-screen?—but more than anything, he’s a chaotic scene-stealer who’ll endear himself to anyone with a pulse. It’s also totally on-brand for Gunn: From Scooby-Doo to Rocket Raccoon, the filmmaker has had a longstanding affinity for bizarro animals throughout his career. What’s more, the superdog carries some personal significance. As Gunn explained over Instagram last year, Krypto was inspired by his own dog, Ozu, who was rescued from a hoarding situation. “[Ozu] immediately came in & destroyed our home, our shoes, our furniture—he even ate my laptop,” Gunn wrote. “It took a long time before he would even let us touch him. I remember thinking, ‘Gosh, how difficult would life be if Ozu had superpowers?’—and thus Krypto came into the script & changed the shape of the story as Ozu was changing my life.”
While Gunn’s tribute to Ozu is genuinely touching, it also underlines that Krypto sharing the same destructive attributes makes him one of the most dangerous superpowered beings in Superman. Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) might be warning humanity about Superman because he’s envious of all the adoration his adversary receives, but that fearmongering actually applies to his dog. Superman is Earth’s great hope because he uses his godlike powers for good; Krypto just wants to watch the world burn.
By Superman’s admission, Krypto can’t be trusted to be on his own. After rescuing Krypto from Luthor, who plans to euthanize the imprisoned doggo after running tests on him in a pocket universe, Superman returns to Smallville. At this point, you’d expect Superman to leave Krypto on his parents’ farm—why put an animal in harm’s way so soon after being saved?—but he can’t. Were Krypto left to his own devices, Superman explains, he could kill the cows. If you ever worried about a person harming animals because they were bored, chances are you were dealing with a psychopath.
Of course, there have been cinematic dogs whose sinister streaks were more intentional; for all his faults, Krypto is no Cujo. Instead, Krypto reads as a cautionary tale about animal neglect—the fact that he wrecks the Fortress of Solitude when left alone is a telltale sign that he’s not getting enough stimulation in his life. Yes, Superman has a lot to juggle: saving the world, moonlighting as a journalist for the Daily Planet, a relationship with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). But denying Krypto the care he needs isn’t just bad pet ownership: With the immense power he wields, Krypto is a disaster waiting to happen. What else would he destroy if left unattended? Would chasing a squirrel through Metropolis lead to him inadvertently razing an entire neighborhood? Does a bite from a superdog have enough force to rip off someone’s limb? Is there anyone on Earth qualified to train him?
We do get a taste of the harm Krypto can inflict upon people—however loathsome they are—in Superman’s climax. Having stopped a rupture in the pocket universe from destroying Metropolis, Superman confronts Luthor in his floating headquarters while the Daily Planet publishes a story outlining that the supervillain was secretly funding the war between Boravia and Jarhanpur. By every measure, Luthor has been defeated, but Krypto adds insult to injury, flinging him across the room and breaking his arm. It’s a sequence reminiscent of the Hulk pummeling the ever-living shit out of Loki in The Avengers, and, given everything Luthor has done up to this point, it’s immensely satisfying to watch. But as the canine companion to a superhero with a do-no-harm ethos, Krypto’s willfully destructive behavior feels extremely off message.
In Superman’s defense, he didn’t sign up for any of this. At the end of the film, Krypto reunites with his actual owner, Supergirl (Milly Alcock), who left the dog in her cousin’s care while she was partying in another corner of the universe. “Thanks for watching him, bitch!” Supergirl says after Krypto excitedly knocks her to the ground, much in the same way he leaped all over Superman while he was writhing in pain. If dogs really do take on the characteristics of their owners, Supergirl’s brash entrance goes a long way toward explaining Krypto’s chaotic energy.
In retrospect, Superman did the best he could in a difficult situation, and despite Krypto spending most of the movie being a nuisance apparently capable of cattle murder, it’s impossible not to love him. But don’t let that adorable exterior fool you. Just because he’s Superman’s best friend doesn’t make him ours.
