A minute into the pilot episode of Krypton,
when Ian McElhinney (Game of Thrones) steps into the frame donning a blue suit
and a red cape emblazoned with the iconic Superman logo,
you could be forgiven for thinking he was playing an older version of the
superhero. But this is not a show about Superman. In fact, this is not even a
show about his father. Set on the titular planet two generations prior to its
cataclysmic end and his birth,Krypton – premièring Wednesday on Syfy, and
available for purchase elsewhere – follows Superman's grandfather, Seg-El
(Cameron Cuffe), in his twenties.
As such, Krypton demands a keen interest in Superman
canon right from the start, like with the ongoing Supergirl and Smallville before it, minus the expectations of
watching someone fly and display superhuman strength. Instead, Krypton focuses on the politics being played
by the great houses in the capital city of Kandor, and the lives of those caught
up in that world, be it the ruling class living amongst the clouds, or the
unfortunate – pejoratively termed "rankless" – that barely survive in
the depths below, all the while grappling with the rise of a new theocratic
ruler, the Voice of Rao.
McElhinney, who plays Seg's scientist
grandfather Val-El, is an early victim of the new form of government, owing to
his belief in extra-terrestrial life and the study of potential off-world
threats despite the ruler's disapproval. For his actions, his family – the
House of El – is stripped of its rank (and in turn, the iconic insignia), and
Val is executed for treason. The story picks up fourteen years later with a
grown-up Seg, who's scratching out a living fighting in bars. He's still got a
friend or two in high places, including his lover Lyta Zod (Georgina Campbell,
from Black Mirror), who serves in Kandor's militarised police force.
Things take a turn for the worse
after a man shows up from Earth, Adam Strange (Shaun Sipos), who hands him a
crystal with the Superman logo on it, and claims he's travelled from the future
with a message from Seg's grandson: someone wants to get rid of Superman by
preventing his birth on Krypton. That someone turns out to be Brainiac (Blake
Ritson), the supervillain best known to Superman fans as the one who
miniaturised Kandor and put it in a bottle. Seg's search for answers becomes
the engine for the 10-epsiode Krypton season one, as he tries to save Kandor
and keep himself alive.
Created by David S. Goyer –
screenwriter on the 2013 reboot Man of Steel, and co-writer on the
2016 follow-up Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – it's easy to imagine Krypton being pitched as Superman meets Game of Thrones Much of it revolves
around the inequality in society, and how the in-fighting, bickering and
manoeuvring of the elite leads to suffering for the common folk. Krypton makes political and social commentary
along the way too, drawing parallels with the militarisation of police in the US
Despite those technological advances, and other
visible signs of a futuristic society, Kandor's turn to theocracy means it's
backwards in other areas, which makes Krypton unique in sci-fi fare. Citizens are
accused of treason with little to no proof, with no recourse for a proper
trial, and the punishment being death. Even the police force operates in brutal
barbaric ways, be in their handling of the "rankless", and
subordinates allowed to challenge their superiors in a fight-to-death
leadership contest at a moment's notice. It's a civilisation in decline,
showrunner Cameron Welsh has explained in interviews, which gives them room to build Krypton to how fans know it
as.
Owing to Goyer's big role, Krypton shares the storytelling tones and
visual aesthetic of the DC films he worked on with director Zack Synder. That means the Superman
prequel is perpetually grim and dark, and repeatedly pushes its characters to
their figurative and literal limits. Within the first five episodes, all the
major characters come close to being killed, not once but on multiple
occasions. High stakes are important for dramas, but when you raise them over
and over without the possibility of pay-off –Krypton doesn't have Game
of Thrones' ensemble
strength to afford killing too many – the stakes actually end up being lowered.
It doesn't help that the writing is
skin-deep in most places. Krypton always seems to be in a hurry, using
the interactions between characters merely as a way to further the plot, rather
than build them as someone with flesh and blood. There are too few moments
where the show breathes, and even fewer moments where Krypton makes space for characters to shed off
the heaviness. As a result, characters suffer in turn: Seg is a bland, generic
hero with nothing that makes him memorable; his love interest Lyta is slightly
better served, and her relationship with her mother Jayna Zod (Ann Ogbomo)
who's also her boss in the police force, is the only subplot that gets proper
attention, focusing on two women struggling to juggle their personal and
professional relationships.
Visually, Krypton is similar to the heavy desaturation
applied in both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman. It's all different
shades of greys with barely a hint of colour, and to further emphasise its
dark, gritty tone – or probably owing to budgetary reasons – most scenes and
environments are dimly lit. Not a single promotional image provided by Syfy –
some of which are on this page – is a true representative of how the show
actually looks. The only pop of colour is owing to the Voice of Rao, who wears
a golden helmet of many faces, which apart from making the character impossible
to understand/ relate, also doubles as bordering on self-parody.
With DC shows having fared better than its films, it's understandable
that Warner Bros. would want to capitalise further on that success. But
even then, Krypton would have been a tough sell, given it
doesn't have any superheroes, and won't crossover with existing series. The new
Syfy series is an origin story for the origin story – you're already looking at
a narrow, dedicated Superman audience. Unfortunately, even those fans will have
a hard time finding something that piques their interest: poorly-sketched
characters suffocated by a boring story that assumes importance by attaching a
bombastic score is a recipe for disaster. We'd be surprised if Krypton gets a
second-season order.
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