1 Week Before Supergirl, DC Debuts A Dark New Version of Krypto
Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for My Adventures With Superman season 3, episode 1
Thanks to his scene-stealing debut in James Gunn’s Superman, Krypto the Super Dog is easily one of the most adorable superhero movie characters in recent memory. However, another corner of DC has just introduced a somewhat darker counterpart, one week before Krypto’s return in the upcoming Supergirl movie.
While not set in the new DCU proper, My Adventures With Superman has become one of the most fascinating and charming DC animated projects. Currently in its third season, the premiere episode follows Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Kara Zor-El as they investigate a dark new facility housing genetic experiments involving Kryptonian DNA. By the premiere’s end, a new version of Krypto has been revealed, though he doesn’t belong to Superman or Supergirl.
My Adventures With Superman Debuts A Bizarro Version Of Krypto
In My Adventures with Superman and its season 3 premiere, Clark, Lois, Jimmy, and Kara discover BZ-1, a clone of Superman created by the now-defunct Project Caliban and specifically a deceased scientist named Dr. George Binder (a homage to Bizarro comic creators Otto Binder and George Papp). Rather than creating BZ-1 solely as a living weapon, Binder seemingly raised the clone as his own son, teaching him and seeking to instill a desire to do good.
Before he was Clark Kent, Superman was born Kal-El on a distant planet doomed to destruction. His parents Jor-El and Lara placed him in a rocket ship as an infant, sending him across the cosmos to Earth. What is the name of Superman’s home planet?
✓ Correct! Krypton was a scientifically advanced planet that exploded due to its unstable core. Jor-El, Superman’s father, was the only scientist who foresaw the catastrophe and managed to save his son by launching him toward Earth in a small spacecraft.
✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is Krypton. Thanagar is Hawkman’s homeworld, Apokolips is Darkseid’s domain, and Oa is the headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps. Krypton’s destruction is the defining event of Superman’s origin story.
02
Superman’s greatest love is a fearless, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who works alongside Clark Kent at the Daily Planet. She’s known for her relentless pursuit of the truth and for being one of the few people who sees both the hero and the man. Who is she?
✓ Correct! Lois Lane has been Superman’s primary love interest since her debut in Action Comics #1 in 1938. A brilliant investigative reporter, she’s as iconic as Superman himself — tough, smart, and unafraid to chase the biggest stories in Metropolis.
✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is Lois Lane. Diana Prince is Wonder Woman, Lana Lang is Clark’s high school sweetheart from Smallville, and Cat Grant is a gossip columnist at the Daily Planet. Lois Lane is Superman’s iconic partner.
03
Despite being nearly invulnerable under Earth’s yellow sun, Superman has one famous weakness — a radioactive mineral from the remnants of his destroyed homeworld. Exposure to it drains his powers and can even kill him. What is this substance called?
✓ Correct! Kryptonite is the irradiated remnants of planet Krypton. Green Kryptonite is the most common and deadly variety, but there are many other types — Red Kryptonite causes unpredictable behavior, Gold Kryptonite can permanently strip his powers, and Blue Kryptonite affects Bizarro.
✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is Kryptonite. Vibranium is from Marvel’s Black Panther universe, Nth Metal is tied to Hawkman, and Red Sun Ore isn’t a real DC substance. Kryptonite is the iconic green-glowing mineral that is Superman’s ultimate weakness.
04
In 1978, a then-unknown actor donned the cape and made the world believe a man could fly. His portrayal of Superman became the gold standard for superhero films and he starred in four Superman movies. Who is this legendary actor?
✓ Correct! Christopher Reeve’s portrayal in Superman: The Movie (1978) is widely regarded as the definitive live-action Superman. His performance perfectly balanced the heroic confidence of Superman with the endearing clumsiness of Clark Kent, setting the template every Superman actor has followed since.
✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is Christopher Reeve. Henry Cavill played Superman in the DCEU starting with Man of Steel (2013), Brandon Routh starred in Superman Returns (2006), and Tom Welling played young Clark in TV’s Smallville. Reeve was the original big-screen Superman.
05
Superman’s greatest enemy isn’t a superpowered alien — he’s a brilliant, ruthless human billionaire who believes Superman is a threat to humanity’s potential. This bald-headed genius has been Superman’s archenemy for over 80 years. Who is he?
✓ Correct! Lex Luthor is the ultimate foil to Superman — where Superman represents hope and selflessness, Luthor represents ambition and ego. Despite having no superpowers, his genius-level intellect and vast resources make him Superman’s most persistent and dangerous adversary.
✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is Lex Luthor. Brainiac is an alien android who collects cities, Darkseid is the god-like ruler of Apokolips, and Doomsday is the monster who famously killed Superman. But Lex Luthor is the definitive archenemy — Superman’s dark mirror.
06
After crash-landing on Earth as a baby, Kal-El was found and adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent, a kind farming couple. They raised him with strong moral values in a small rural town. Where did Clark Kent grow up?
✓ Correct! Smallville, Kansas is the quintessential American small town where Jonathan and Martha Kent raised Clark with heartland values of honesty, compassion, and humility. It’s the foundation of who Superman is — not the powers from Krypton, but the character instilled by his Kansas parents.
✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is Smallville, Kansas. Gotham is Batman’s city, Metropolis is where Clark moves as an adult to work at the Daily Planet, and Coast City is Green Lantern’s home. Smallville is where the Kents raised Clark on their farm.
07
As Clark Kent, Superman disguises himself as a mild-mannered reporter working at Metropolis’s most famous newspaper, alongside Lois Lane and photographer Jimmy Olsen. Their editor-in-chief Perry White runs the newsroom. What is the name of this newspaper?
✓ Correct! The Daily Planet, with its iconic globe on the rooftop, is one of the most recognizable fictional newspapers in pop culture. Working there gives Clark Kent both a cover identity and a way to stay informed about threats to the city and the world.
✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is the Daily Planet. The Daily Bugle is Spider-Man’s Marvel universe newspaper, the Metropolis Star and Gotham Gazette are lesser DC publications. The Daily Planet — with its spinning globe — is Superman’s journalistic home.
08
This Kryptonian military commander was banished to the Phantom Zone for treason before Krypton’s destruction. He escaped and came to Earth seeking vengeance, famously demanding that others “Kneel before” him. His iconic portrayal by Terence Stamp cemented him in pop culture. Who is this villain?
✓ Correct! General Zod is one of Superman’s most terrifying foes because he has all of Superman’s powers but none of his morality. Terence Stamp’s portrayal in Superman II (1980) made “Kneel before Zod” one of the most quoted villain lines in film history. Michael Shannon later reimagined the role in Man of Steel (2013).
✗ Not faster than a speeding bullet on that one! The answer is General Zod. Bizarro is a flawed clone of Superman, Parasite drains powers through touch, and Metallo is a cyborg with a Kryptonite heart. General Zod is the Kryptonian military leader whose cry of “Kneel before Zod!” echoes through decades of Superman stories.
Mission Complete Your Kryptonian Record
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Are you the Man of Steel — or still stuck in a phone booth?
However, Clark and company also encounter BZ-1’s “dog”, a massive, multi-limbed, purple-skinned, and wolf-like creature looking to be another one of Caliban’s genetic alien experiments. Nearly as big and as strong as Superman himself, the creature is fiercely protective of BZ-1 and is also capable of firing freezing ice beams from its mouth, clearly making it a fascinating Bizarro-like counterpart to Krypto the Super Dog.
Although a rogue security drone wounds the hybrid, the creature is rescued by BZ-1 before the facility floods following the activation of various security protocols. As such, it seems highly unlikely that this is the last we’ve seen of BZ-1’s dog, especially with BZ-1 himself having been inspired to be a hero like Superman by the episode’s end.
Will The DCU’s “Bizarro” Ever Return?
David Corenswet as unmasked Ultraman in Superman
Although he was never officially called Bizarro, Ultraman in 2025’s Superman was ultimately revealed to be a clone of Kal-El created by Lex Luthor using trace amounts of his DNA found at the sites of various conflicts. Engineered to be as strong as Superman, if not stronger, the final battle between Luthor’s clone and the Man of Steel saw Ultraman being pulled into a black hole.
While it certainly seems like that should be a definitive end for Ultraman, comic book movies have repeatedly shown that disappearing into cosmic phenomena rarely means a character is truly gone forever. To that end, it’s even been speculated that a black hole creates the perfect opportunity for an epic return, with Ultraman perhaps coming back as a more traditional Bizarro who’s also free from Luthor’s influence. He could even have the classic reverse-Bizarro speak from the comics, though whether that will actually happen in the new DCU remains to be seen.
At any rate, My Adventures with Superman season 3 debuting its own unique take on Bizarro is very exciting, especially alongside his own version of Krypto. Who knows if it will ever happen, but it’s pretty fun to think about Krypto one day having a dark counterpart of his own to contend with in the DCU. In the meantime, it’s going to be lots of fun to see Krypto’s return to the big screen next week when Supergirl hits theaters, starring Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El and Jason Moman as the intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo.
New episodes of My Adventures With Superman season 3 release Saturday nights on Adult Swim and streaming next day on HBO Max.
