James Gunn shares first look at Superman’s dog Krypto in the 2025 movie and reveals the real-life inspiration behind changing the script to include it

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Superman's ol canine pal Krypto is going to be in DC'ss upcoming Superman movie – and director James Gunn has shared the heartwarming reason behind adding the pup to the script.

"Krypto arrives on screens in Superman this summer. 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," Gunn wrote on Twitter.

"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."

Krypto, aka Krypto the Superdog, made his first appearance in Adventure Comics #210 back in 1955. He was originally intended as a one-off character, but eventually became Superman's dog in various comics. The pup has a heightened sense of smell and hearing, as well as super-canine intelligence. A dog based on Krypto made an appearance in the live-action Superman series Smallville, but the 2025 movie marks his first-ever official live-action appearance.

Superman, written and directed by Gunn, follows a younger Superman (David Corenswet) as he embarks on a journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent. The film marks the first feature-length project in Gunn and Peter Safran's new DCU – titled Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.

Superman is slated for a July 11, 2025 release. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2024 and beyond, or, check out our guide to all of the upcoming superhero movies that you need to know about.