‘Superman’ Director James Gunn Shares First Look at Krypto, Based on His Own Shelter Dog

Krypto, Superman’s super-powered canine companion, debuted in “Adventure Comics” #210 back in March 1955. And now he will be seen in writer/director James Gunn’s big screen “Superman,” hitting theaters on July 11, 2025.

Writing on social media , Gunn said that the character was inspired by his own rescue dog Ozu, whom Gunn and his wife adopted shortly after he started writing “Superman.”

“Ozu, who came from a hoarding situation in a backyard with 60 other dogs and never knew human beings, was problematic to say the least. He immediately came in and 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,” Gunn explained. “I remember thinking, Gosh, how difficult would life be if Ozu had superpowers? — and thus Krypto came into the script and changed the shape of the story as Ozu was changing my life.”

Gunn debuted Krypto because October is #AdpotAShelterDog month. The filmmaker also noted that, “Ozu today is, fairly often, a very good boy.” This will be the super-pet’s live-action feature debut. He was recently voiced by Dwayne Johnson in “DC League of Super-Pets” in 2022.

It’s clear from the image that this version of Krypto is more of a scruffy mutt than previous iterations of the character, which often portray him as a Golden Retriever, a Dalmatian or a White Shepherd.

“Superman” stars David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Isabela Merced, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion, Anthony Carrigan, María Gabriela de Faría, Skyler Gisondo and Wendell Pierce.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Krypto is part of the film (and that he has a more tragic backstory), considering Gunn’s last film, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is one of the more pointed animal rights movies ever made. The fact that it was housed inside a freewheeling comic book movie made it all the more potent.

“Superman” hits theaters on July 11, 2025.

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