WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Krypton, which airs Wednesdays on Syfy.


The story of Superman has been well-explored over the years. In addition to the fan-favorite animated series, fans have been treated to modern live-action series such as Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993-1997) and Smallville (2001-2011). Most recently, the Last Son of Krypton has been seen popping up on Supergirl.

However, it's 2011's Man of Steel (written by David Goyer) which brought him back to the mainstream big time, rebooting the heroes film franchise from the halcyon days of the Christopher Reeve movies and Bryan Singer's highly-divisive Superman Returns. While this reintroduction by director Zack Snyder was polarizing, fans would eventually warm to the more heroic Superman (Henry Cavill) that evolved over the course of Batman vs. Superman (2015) and last year's Justice League.

And now we have Syfy's Krypton, a Superman series in which the Man of Steel seems destined to never appear as it explored the years before his birth. Indeed, it takes place decades before his titular home planet is even destroyed.

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What's most interesting about the series, apart from it being developed by Goyer as well, is its description as a "prequel series," hinting that it was might be a precursor to Man of Steel and Warner Bros.' DC Extended Universe. However, it turns out that the show, which focuses on Krypton's existence 200 years before Kal-El was born, actually isn't part of that continuity. Despite that disconnect though, there's a lot of common ground that would make Krypton the perfect DCEU-based television series.

KRYPTON -- Season:1 -- Pictured: (l-r) Cameron Cuffe as Seg-El, Ian McElhinney as Val-El -- (Photo by: Gavin Bond/Syfy)

Goyer's new narrative syncs up with the DCEU's almost seamlessly, following the arc of Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe), Jor-El's father, as he works with the artificial intelligence matrix of his own grandfather, Val-El (Ian McElhinney) to save the planet from Brainiac. This would preserve Krypton for its future destruction, allowing Kal-El to be born, escape via rocket and eventually become Superman. Here, Goyer goes deeper into Krypton's rigid sociopolitical pyramid than the DCEU's Superman films, exploring the caste and class systems, structures such as guilds, and just how the workforce is set up.

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These are seeds he first laid down in Man of Steel, which led to Russell Crowe's Jor-El losing faith in Krypton, its lack of equality, and how its inhabitants lost their souls and sense of justice along the way. Both Krypton and Man of Steel paint the patriarchs of the House of El as intelligent rebels who want what's best for Krypton and its people; basically they're Krypton's social justice warriors. But in addition to these similarities in the El bloodline, we have common denominators in other areas.

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Both properties introduce the Genesis Chamber, technology Kryptonians use to genetically engineer babies with a pre-determined role in society. Coincidentally, the artificial intelligence voice of the Chamber in Krypton sounds eerily similar to Carla Gugino as Kelor, the Chamber's voice in BvS. Then there are things like the House of El crest (Superman's symbol); the sun-stone (a unique Kryptonian crystal) that opens the Fortress of Solitude; the Fortress itself; Kryptonian ships and weaponry; the Phantom Zone as a rift in space and time; the natural landscape and architecture of the planet; and the garb of the various sects of Krypton's citizens. All of this strongly resembles what we saw in Man of Steel.

Krypton's narrative feels very much tied into the DCEU in terms of Superman's iconic villains. Krypton is set to feature Doomsday, who's a genetic experiment gone wrong. Handling the scientific tinkering that creates the abomination in this TV series could smartly inform how Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor got the idea to create his own version when he gained access to Kryptonian scout ship in BvS. Given Goyer's always had an affinity for Brainiac, even wanting to write him in a Man of Steel sequel, Krypton might actually be foreshadowing the future of the DCEU, which can always open the door for an upgraded Brainiac to appear later down the line.

We can't forget the series' violent Easter egg in the form of Lyta Zod's (Georgina Campbell) neck-snapping moment. Lyta, who's to be the grandmother of General Zod aka Dru-Zod, challenged Commander Quex-Ul (Gordon Alexander) for leadership of the Sagitari (Kandor City’s elite guard) in hand-to-hand combat in order to ease the mistreatment of the lower class. But as he begged for mercy upon defeat, she gave a nod to Snyder's flick by breaking her opponent's neck without hesitation.

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It was a power move that reminded fans of how Cavill's Superman killed General Zod (Michael Shannon) on Earth, a poetically moment that simultaneously gives Lyta her time to shine, while foreshadowing the karma her grandson would receive later down the line.

As for anyone concerned how Shannon's character (a white male) could be related to Lyta (a black female), well, we saw the House of Vex try to adopt Seg-El into their fold, so the DCEU could always retcon things so that Dru was adopted into the House of Zod.

All in all, there's a lot that indicate both stories from Goyer are cut from same cloth, even if the pieces aren't destined to be sewn into a single garment. The DCEU's influence on Krypton is so similar in terms of tone and visuals that it's hard not to believe he envisioned them as one cohesive plot -- bleak, dark and gritty. Taking all this into consideration, Krypton having this look and feel of the DCEU created by Goyer and Snyder can't be a mere coincidence, because at the end of the day, it truly does fit DC's filmverse like the prologue that never made it to cinemas.


Airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Syfy, Krypton stars Cameron Cuffe as Seg-El, Shaun Sipos as Adam Strange, Georgina Campbell as Lyta-Zod, Elliot Cowan as Daron-Vex, Ann Ogbomo as Jayna-Zod, Rasmus Hardiker as Kem, Wallis Day as Nyssa-Vex, Aaron Pierre as Dev-Em, Ian McElhinney as Val-El and Blake Ritson as Brainiac.