David Goyer’s Krypton TV series takes place 200 years before Man of Steel

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

It's been almost a year since we last heard about David Goyer's Superman prequel series, Krypton. The show, which is in development at SyFy, is said to follow "the Man of Steel's grandfather as he brings hope and equality to Krypton, turning a planet in disarray into one worthy of giving birth to the greatest Super Hero ever known." Comic Book caught up Goyer at a press-junket for Da Vinci's Demons and asked for an update on the series, which Goyer was only too happy to provide.

It takes place 200 years before Man of Steel. We’re treating Krypton like it’s a historical piece. We look to previous cultures on Earth to model what that would be like. We scratched the surface in the film and, for me, that was the allure. I was always fascinated, as a kid, with the books about Krypton and they’ve only shaded in a tiny bit, so we’ll learn about the politics of the world. We’ll learn about the culture, the art, all the different guilds.

MAN OF STEEL opened with a thrilling prologue set during the fall of Krypton as Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer) fought to send their son to safety. As the sequence contained more than its share of visual effects, there's the question on whether a Krypton series will be able to bring that same production value to the small screen. Collider caught up with Goyer at the same event and asked that very question.

In terms of production value, you have to pick your moments. It will definitely, should we make the show there will definitely be some big moments. It won’t be wall to wall visual effects every single moment, spectacle, in the way that the film will be, but we’ll also be digging into the characters and the culture a lot more.

So in short, Krypton will obviously have to scale back the thrills a bit, but should the series actually follow through and offer up an interesting look into the culture of Krypton, we shouldn't miss them all that much. Just throw in a couple of those flying dragonfly/dog creatures for good luck.