Superman sneak peek Cinemacon footage is all about Krypto the super dog

Who’s a very, very good dog?

Superman director James Gunn has publicly released a sneak peek scene from the upcoming movie and he obviously adhered to the old adage, “give the people what they want”.

And what they want is Krypto, Superman’s floofy dog who stole the show when the production revealed the first trailer in December. More puppers, always.

The three-minutes-and-41-seconds scene is mostly an extended version of the titbit teased in the trailer, when an injured Superman calls on his loyal companion to take him home.

What we didn’t see at first is Krypto’s initial insistence on playtime, when he repeatedly jumps on Superman demanding a game. Of course, the super dog is mighty strong and Superman in his less-than-stellar-state can only eke out groans of pain.

The pooch then gets the message and carries his master back to the icy Fortress of Solitude, where Superman is tended to by a group of androids who diagnose his several fractures and damaged organs.

As much as David Corenswet’s debut as the Man of Steel is exciting, Krypto looks to be the scene-stealer when the movie is released in July.

While it’s an unfortunate name (hands up if you hate the idea of saying aloud “I love Krypto” and have someone mistake you for a libertarian tech bro, shudder), in the dog’s defence, he was here first.

The character made his debut in the 1955 issue Adventure Comics #210 and has traditionally been depicted as Superman’s pet with similar powers to the big blue boy scout, just proportionate to his size.

That Krypto didn’t immediately listen to Superman reflects Gunn’s relationship with his own rescue dog, which the filmmaker drew from for the onscreen pup. Gunn said during an earlier press Q&A, “(My dog) Ozu was the world’s worst dog, he destroyed my entire house.

“He was actually one of the inspirations because I was like, ‘Well, thank god I don’t have a super dog like Krypto, and what if Krypto was as bad as Ozu, you’d have a pretty difficult situation.”

We’re about the discover just how bad.

Krypto will largely be CGI in the film but during filming, a dog named Jolene, who apparently always arrived on set to the tune of the Dolly Parton song, served as the stand-in.

The footage was first played at Cinemacon in Las Vegas, which gathers theatre owners and exhibitors over a week with presentations from all the major studios. Traditionally, footage that is shown at Cinemacon is not publicly released, at least not for a while, so the Superman sneak peek being made available for everyone is unusual.

The film will kick start a new era for DC screen projects, now led by Gunn and producer Peter Safran.

Corenswet is the third actor to play Superman on the big screen since the turn of the century, not counting the multiverse cameo versions in The Flash movie.

Superman will also star Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luther, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Isabella Merced as Hawkgirl, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen and Wendell Pierce as Perry White.

Australian actor Milly Alcock will be introduced in the film as Supergirl before centring her own movie, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, in 2026.

Krypto is expected to make an appearance in Supergirl too. Woof.

Superman will be in cinemas on July 10