We’re calling it now; Krypto the Superdog is going to be the breakout star of James Gunn’s Superman. We already love the rambunctious alien pooch just from the trailer. We knew his upcoming appearance in the film was based on Gunn’s own rescue dog, Ozu. But we didn’t know just how much he’s based on him. In a video posted to Gunn’s Instagram, we see him watching scenes from the film with Ozu, who is barking up a storm reacting to Krypto on screen. You can watch this adorable video right here:
Gunn reveals the Krypto was actually 3D modeled on Ozu’s body, then made white to match his DC Comics counterpart. So when Ozu goes wild at seeing Krypto on screen, he’s actually freaking out at his own doppelgänger. As Gunn says, “Every time he sees himself on screen, he tries to murder himself.” Back in October, Gunn described how Ozu came into his life, and how he influenced Superman. Here’s what he had to say:
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 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. 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.
In the comics, Krypto traditionally looks like a white Labrador Retriever from Earth. But he’s a canine from the planet Krypton after all, so really, he can look like any kind of dog. We’re actually partial to this smaller, scrappier version of Kal-El’s best friend. And we can’t wait to see more of him when James Gunn’s Superman hits theaters on July 11.
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