Take your pick.
Superman's perennially doomed homeworld is getting a new lease on life on SYFY's new TV series, Krypton. But which Krypton will the show be using, exactly? The Man of Steel's planet has gone through a number of changes over the past 80 years.
Whether a world filled with supermen, a sci-fi utopia, or a planet consumed by civil war, these are some of the most important and influential takes on Krypton that have popped up throughout the Man of of Steel's long and storied history.
After all, with Krypton, there's only one constant: Eventually, the planet is going to explode. Everything else is up in the air.
1. Action Comics #1 (1938)
In the very first panel of Superman's very first comic, a planet with green hills explodes as baby Superman's rocket takes off. The world isn't named and we don't get any information about what it's like, but hey--it's a start.
2. The Superman Newspaper Strip (1939)
Shortly after Superman's big debut, co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster introduced the Last Son of Krypton to newspaper readers with the first in-depth look at Kal-L's origin story. In the comic strip, Krypton is a planet filled with superpowered man and women--but extraordinary strength and the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound still isn't enough to stop the planet from going kablooey. Notably, in the strip, Siegel's narration says that Kryptonians simply represent "the human race at its ultimate peak of perfect development." How did humans get to a far-off world like Krypton in the first place? We'll never know.
3. The Superman Serial (1948)
In the late '40s, Colombia Pictures released Superman, a 15-part serial starring Kirk Alyn that doubled as Krypton's live-action debut. In the first episode, viewers learn that Krypton's citizens have superpowers, but they never seem to use them. Instead, Krypton's council spends most of its time lounging around in togas, arguing about Krypton's imminent demise thanks to its quickly expanding sun, and sitting on some of the most uncomfortable furniture ever made. It's all cheap and vague and ill-defined, and pales in comparison to the extra-terrestrial worlds depicted in earlier serials like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.
4. Superman #53 (1948)
That same year, the comic books finally fleshed out Superman's origin story, giving readers their first real glimpse of Kryptonian society. In this telling, Krypton's intense gravity keeps its citizens grounded (although X-ray vision is still a thing), but the Kryptonians make up for their reduced powers with their super brains. They're also smug and arrogant, making it hard to get too upset when Krypton's uranium core turns radioactive and blows them all into a million pieces.
5. The Adventures of Superman (1951)
The first episode of George Reeves' popular television series borrows a lot from the Superman radio drama and the Kirk Alyn serials, but design-wise, this take on Krypton is far more serious than previous versions. It's also gloriously ostentations--Jor-El, Lara, and baby Kal live in the Griffith Observatory, for goodness' sake. For the first time, Krypton is less pulp and more like an outer space Westeros, although the producers are clearly limited by their meager TV budget. Hey, at least they tried.
6. The Silver and Bronze Ages (1956-1986)
In the '60s, Krypton became a much bigger part of Superman's ongoing series, and over the next two and a half decades the planet was fleshed out to a ridiculous degree. Readers were introduced to Krypton's governing body, the Science Council, met wildlife like the Snagriff and Flame Dragons, and visited landmarks like the Hall of Worlds and the Mind-Art Center. They learned that El is one of Krypton's family names, and that the planet's red sun, Rao, keeps its inhabitants powerless. Popular Kryptonian artifacts like the Phantom Zone, the Bottle City of Kandor, and Supergirl's hometown, Argo City, all made their debut here.
7. Superman: The Movie (1978)
In the comics, science might've been Krypton's guiding force, but that didn't keep things from being fun and lively. In Superman: The Movie, the Kryptonians' love of logic and rationality takes a decidedly dystopian turn. Under Richard Donner's direction, Krypton is a foreboding, monochromatic civilization where reason, not emotion, reigns supreme. Even Krypton's crystalline buildings are cold and sterile. Still, Donner must've gotten something right. Superman: The Movie's Krypton pops up again in Superman Returns, Smallville, the CW's Supergirl, and numerous comic books.
8. Super Friends (1983)
A kids' show that dabbles in genocide? You betcha. When Superman travels through time in Super Friends' third season episode "The Krypton Syndrome," he finds himself on a version of Krypton that's the same as the Silver Age version with one big exception: This time, Krypton can be saved. Unfortunately, doing so creates an alternate timeline in which the Legion of Doom reigns supreme, forcing the Man of Steel to go back in time again in order to set things straight. That's right: on Super Friends, Superman murders his entire planet to save his friends on Earth.
9. Post-Crisis (1986)
After Crisis on Infinite Earths reset the DC universe, DC hired fan-favorite writer and artist John Byrne to give Superman a new, modern origin story. Byrne's Man of Steel and World of Krypton miniseries reinvented Krypton as a dystopia where physical contact is forbidden, babies are raised in artificial wombs called "birthing matrices," and the people still carry the scars of an ancient conflict known as the Clone Wars. Thanks to weapons deployed during the battle, both Krypton and its people are slowly dying from a mysterious disease known as "the green plague." Basically, this time around, Krypton's destruction isn't a natural phenomenon. This time, the Kryptonians brought it on themselves.
10. Superman: The Animated Series (1996)
The follow-up to the fan-favorite Batman: The Animated Series ditches all that doom and gloom and returns Krypton to its pulp adventure roots, with a healthy dose of Jack Kirby thrown in for good measure. In Superman's pilot, Jor-El is a swashbuckling science hero who butts heads with both Kryptonian security forces and the local wildlife, and Krypton isn't doomed by its citizens' hubris. Instead, Brainiac, the duplicitous artificial intelligence that runs Kryptonian society, is the cause of Krypton's demise.
11. Birthright (2003)
In 2003, Mark Waid and Leinil Yu's 12-issue miniseries Birthright restored many of Krypton's Silver Age trappings. In this story, intellect and science have triumphed over war and violence, making Krypton a peaceful society once again. As a new origin for Superman, Birthright didn't last long, but many of the series' smaller contributions to Kryptonian culture, like the idea that Superman's shield is the Kryptonian symbol for "hope," managed to survive.
12. New Krypton (2008-2010)
DC's big crossover event gave fans its most in-depth look at Kryptonian society yet, while finding a way to bring all the different versions of Krypton together. In the story, we learn that Kryptonian society has five different guilds, each one of which dresses in the style of a previous Kryptonian incarnation. The Science Guild, for example, wears outfits that resemble John Byrne's designs. The Artist Guild's uniforms are plucked right out of the Silver Age. Naturally, Superman: The Movie gets a lot of love here, too (New Krypton co-writer Geoff Johns is Richard Donner's former assistant). Krypton's ceremonial robes look a lot like the ones that Marlon Brando's Jor-El wore, and New Krypton is built on crystal-based technology.
13. The New 52 (2011)
After DC's line-wide reboot, the New 52, Krypton looked a lot like its Silver Age counterpart, but it sure didn't feel that way. Despite Jor-El's familiar get-up, the New 52's Krypton is plagued by terrorists who want to keep Krypton's impending demise a secret. Also this time around, Superman's mom is a badass.
14. Man of Steel (2013)
You want grim and gritty? That's Man of Steel. Instead of robes, these Kryptonians wear armor. Instead of a peaceful society that values intellect and knowledge, this Krypton is engulfed in civil war. Meanwhile, the planet is exploding because the Kryptonians mined it to death, and everyone has weapons up the wazoo. Avatar-style dragon riding aside, Man of Steel's Krypton is harsh, violent, and unpredictable. No wonder its Last Son ended up being a stone-cold killer.
15. Krypton (2018)
So, what does Krypton look like on SYFY? Honestly, a little bit of everything. The show was developed by Man of Steel writer David Goyer, and was originally pitched as a prequel to the film. Krypton's producers list John Byrne's World of Krypton as a major influence. As in Superman: The Animated Series, Brainiac will be a major player on the show. Silver Age characters Flamebird and Nightwing are scheduled to appear, too. The guild system from New Krypton returns, and as for Superman: The Movie's crystals? Oh, there will be crystals. That's guaranteed.
from GameSpot https://ift.tt/2GR1Xw1
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