If you saw the first Superman trailer, you probably fell in love with Krypto the Superdog. We see a devastated and bloodied Superman, apparently near death, rescued by Krypto after Superman tells him to take him home. Based on the trailer, then, Krypto is a very good dog indeed.
But don’t let that fool you. In an interview Q&A with IGN, writer and director James Gunn confirmed that Krypto is actually in a “pretty scary dog” movie.
“You’ll see in the movie that Krypto probably comes off as a better dog in the trailer than he is in the movie,” Gunn said. “Pretty terrible dog! You love him because he’s a dog and how can you not? And he has beautiful, innocent eyes, but he’s a terrible dog.”
Krypto the Superdog is based on Gunn’s own dog, Ozu, whom he admits to having misbehaved. In an Instagram post from October, Gunn said he adopted Ozu shortly after he began writing Superman. “Ozu, who came from a backyard hoarding situation with 60 other dogs and never knew people, was problematic to say the least,” Gunn said.
“He immediately came and destroyed our house, shoes, furniture – even ate my laptop. It took a long time for him to even let us touch him. I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, how hard would life be if Ozu had superpowers?’ — and that’s how crypto came into the script and changed the shape of the story because Ozu was changing my life.”
It turns out that, after a month, Ozu seems to be behaving better. “Actually, I was telling my wife in bed last night, I think, we’ve got a new home here. And I think Ozu has been fine since we got here. What’s going on with him?” Goon interjected. “He’s getting a little bigger… he’s not that bad. He hasn’t torn up any of our furniture yet. We’ll see!”
Superman hits theaters on July 11, 2025, and is the first film in the first chapter of the DCU: Gods and Monsters. The new trailer features IGN explaining all the DC heroes and villains, how Superman thinks about hope, and more.
Wesley is IGN’s UK News Editor. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or privately at wyp100@proton.me.
