James Gunn’s DC Universe, a soft reboot of the DC Extended Universe, will commence in 2025 with Superman: Legacy. That movie will, of course, reintroduce Superman to cinema audiences. Besides the Man of Steel, few prominent Kryptonian characters have appeared in live-action films, with Supergirl, General Zod, and Doomsday among those who have.
The characters confirmed to appear in Superman: Legacy, including Hawkgirl, the Engineer, and Guy Gardner, suggest that world-building will occur in the franchise. Therefore, audiences can expect many DC Comics characters to appear in the coming years, with five movies already announced.
Those characters should undoubtedly include some of Kryptonian heritage previously overlooked in live-action movie settings. These six should be among those James Gunn uses.
6. Krypto
James Gunn has given film fans some fantastic animal characters in superhero movies – Rocket, Cosmo, and Lylla come to mind, for example – and the DC Universe will undoubtedly have some of its own for him to work his magic with. Krypto’s story generally has him as the pet of young Kal-El, AKA Clark Kent, who reunites with him on Earth when his rocket ends up on Earth years after Kent’s arrival. He develops the same superpowers as Kent and becomes Krypto the Superdog, an ally of Superman’s. Having Krypto in the DC Universe under Gunn’s control could be brilliant, and Superman: Legacy is the ideal film to introduce him. He’d be funny, energetic, wholly entertaining, and a heroic character all movie fans would get behind.
5. Eradicator
Four characters in DC Comics have the name Eradicator, and they’d all be intriguing additions to the DC Universe. Eradicators are Kryptonian weapons merged with human bodies to form powerful characters who’ve been heroes, antiheroes, and villains in their various presentations. Arguably, the most exciting use of him in the DC Universe would be the one created by the Kryptonian scientist Kem-L, who wanted him to preserve his ideals of Kryptonian culture by murdering every other surviving Kryptonian character. That version of the character’s inclusion in live-action would ensure a storyline that put viewers on the edge of their seats.
4. Bizarro
Strictly speaking, Bizarro isn’t Kryptonian, but the fact he’s a clone of Superman means his physiology is that of a Kryptonian individual. In the comics, General Zod, Lex Luthor, and various other scientists in DC Comics have created different versions of the character. All Bizarros have in common that their physiology is like that of the Man of Steel, but their powers are opposite to his. For example, Superman’s freeze breath becomes Bizarro’s fire breath, and Superman’s heat vision becomes Bizarro’s ice vision. He’s also somewhat intellectually challenged, to the point of being dimwitted, and James Gunn writing a character like that would be hilarious.
3. Brutaal
Like Bizarro, Brutaal isn’t Kryptonian per se, but as a clone of Superman, he has the Kryptonian physiology of the Man of Steel. Darkseid created him so intricately that he even has Superman’s. What he lacks is Superman’s compassion, meaning he never holds back. His likeness to Superman is such that other characters have mistaken him for the hero. Should Darkseid be introduced to the DC Universe, introducing Brutaal as one of his henchmen would make for a superb storyline. Having him encounter the real Superman in live-action would be terrific – albeit potentially confusing for the civilians of the DC Universe – as a live-action Superman clone that lets loose his true power could look spectacular.
2. Superboy
Superboy is the name of several characters in DC Comics, the most interesting of which is arguably Kon-El, AKA Conner Kent. The various versions also have differing origin stories, one being that he possesses a mix of Superman’s Kryptonian DNA and scientist Paul Westfield’s human DNA. Westfield created the character to safeguard humanity after Superman’s death, so Superman may have to die in the DC Universe to bring him in. That has happened in a film before, but making his death permanent and replacing him would be a bold, admirable, and refreshing approach. Including any Superboy in the DC Universe would also be fascinating because it would likely mean the imminent introduction of a live-action Teen Titans team.
1. Superboy-Prime
Superboy-Prime is an alternate version of Superman from the Earth-Prime universe. He’s a supervillain, one of the most powerful characters in DC Comics, and arguably the most potent version of Clark Kent. His powers are effectively the same as Superman’s, but on a much higher level – to the extent that his punches can alter and smash through realities – and he wears an armored suit that makes him even more powerful. Should he go from his universe to the DC Universe reality, he’d make for an epic villain who might require multiple superheroes – including various heroic versions of Superman – to take him down. If just one new live-action Kryptonian appears in James Gunn’s franchise, it should be this epic character.
