Syfy has been developing the Superman prequel series ‘Krypton’ for over a year and a half now, but things are shaping up! The network has ordered a pilot with Damian Kindler (‘Sleepy Hollow’) on board as executive producer and showrunner. Colm McCarthy (‘Doctor Who’, ‘Sherlock’) will direct the pilot episode, which, should Syfy be happy with the result, could result in a season order.
The show was created by David S. Goyer who previously crafted Starz’ ‘DaVinci’s Demons’ and NBC’s ‘Constantine‘. He is currently attached to the film adaptation of ‘The Sandman‘ based on DC/Vertigo’s beloved supernatural comic book series. He *ahem* also co-wrote and executive produced ‘Batman V superman‘ but let’s try not to hold that against him.
Goyer initially co-wrote the script for ‘Krypton”s pilot with Ian Goldberg, but is currently reworking it with Kindler.
Following the structure of ‘Gotham’, ‘Krypton’ takes place on the doomed planet two generations before Kal-El’s birth and the lead character will be his grandfather.
Kindler previously created the Syfy series ‘Santuary’ and worked on the shows ‘Stargate SG-1’ and ‘Stargate: Atlantis’ before moving over to FOX for ‘Sleepy Hollow’.
McCarthy currently works on the BBC series ‘Peaky Blinders’ starring Cillian Murphy and Sam Neil. That series is set to return May 6th.
Goyer previously discussed ‘Krypton’, saying:
“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.
“Part of the fun of doing Man of Steel — and I was so insistent on setting that opening on Krypton and really seeing it, was pulling back the curtain. The first draft, the first forty pages were on Krypton, so we compressed that all down to fifteen minutes and there were a lot of ideas that I wanted to use in the film that didn’t ultimately make it into the film.
“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.”
Are you intrigued to see a series based on this fantasy planet? Do you think a Superman series minus Superman can work? (Hey it worked for ‘Smallville’ for ten years!)
Source: Deadline
