The comic book genre continues to dominate the entertainment industry, and fans who spent years watching the DC movies in order were recently treated to the inception of a new shared universe courtesy of co-CEO James Gunn. Following Superman, the next upcoming DC movie is Craig Gillespie's Supergirl. Both of these titles have prominently featured the superpowered dog Krypto, and the director spoke to CinemaBlend about how he'll factor into the next blockbuster's story.
What we know about Supergirl has been limited, but that changed thanks to the first Supergirl teaser trailer. In it we got to see Milly Alcock's drunken hero, as well as her sweet relationship to Krypto. I had the chance to speak with Gillespie at the trailer's premiere event in New York City, where I asked him what we should expect from the super pooch. He responded by saying:
He’s a huge part of the plot. I mean, he’s really her only family. Obviously she’s got her cousin, but coming from Krypton. All she has left of Krypton is him. So they have an incredibly tight bond that I think will break people’s hearts.
Well, I'm definitely intrigued. Although the I, Tonya director's comments about it breaking people's hearts has me a little worried that something bad is going to happen to Krypto during Supergirl's mysterious runtime. I was ready to fight Lex Luthor for the dog's sake in the last movie, and it sounds like Kara's relationship with Kypto is even more important than what we saw with Clark in the last movie.
The first footage from Supergirl showed how much trauma Kara has about the destruction of her home planet. This is seemingly why she's trying to numb herself by drinking throughout the cosmos and getting into the occasional brawl. Through it all she has Krypto by her side, and Craig Gillespie's comments highlighted what the super pup really means to her. He's the embodiment of Krypton as a whole, and is her only real family besides Clark.
Krypto was designed after James Gunn's own dog, and was a serious scene stealer throughout Superman. While he was thoroughly adorable, he didn't necessarily listen to what Clark tried to tell him. But he was still protective of Kara's cousin and the Fortress of Solitude, and got to beat the crap out of Lex by the end of the movie. As a reminder, you can watch Supergirl's trailer below:
Supergirl is only the second movie in the DCU, so the pressure is on to stick the landing and get the audience invested in the shared universe's future. But the movie looks like a blast, and leaning into the use of Krypto seems like a great idea considering how beloved he was in Superman.
All will be revealed when Supergirl hits theaters in June 26th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Hopefully, nothing bad happens to Krypto and we get to see him stealing scenes in future DC projects.
