James Gunn Explains Why Krypto Isn’t a Labrador in DCU Superman Movie

James Gunn has an explanation as to why Krypto isn’t a labrador in 2025’s Superman.

Superman will be the first official feature film in Gunn and Peter Safran’s forthcoming DCU. Directed by Gunn, the movie stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent, while Rachel Brosnahan is playing Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult has been cast as Lex Luthor.

On Tuesday, October 15, 2024, Gunn shared the first image of Krypto the Superdog, who will be featured in the movie, on social media.

“Krypto arrives on screens in Superman this summer,” Gunn wrote. “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. 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. 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.”

What did James Gunn say about Krypto not being a lab?

Upon seeing the photo, many people online questioned why Krypto wasn’t a labrador, which is how he’s commonly portrayed in DC Comics.

Gunn responded to one comment on

asking if Krypto should be a lab, Gunn said, “No. Krypto is historically a generic white dog, sometimes also a lab, white shepherd, husky, or Dalmatian. But obviously he’s an alien so he wouldn’t necessarily be exactly any one of these things.”

Superman will be released in United States theaters and IMAX on July 11, 2025.

Brandon Schreur

Brandon Schreur has been writing about comics, movies, television shows, and all things pop culture for roughly five years. He's a lifelong cinephile who spends way, way too much money buying Blu-rays and trade paperbacks. You can find him on twitter at @brandonschreur.