Clearly encouraged by the success of Batman prequel series Gotham over at Fox (success in this case judged as “still scoring decent ratings and staying on the air after a brutal autumn series across the pond”), the US SyFy Channel has now ordered a similar show based around the Superman mythos from **Man Of Steel **writer David Goyer.
The man most closely associated with the DC universe, and Superman in particular, on the big screen at the moment has, according to Entertainment Weekly, being trying to work something like this up for a while. Gotham appears to have spurred someone to actually commission him to produce one.
Yet while he helped to concoct the story, writer Ian Goldberg will be doing the heavy-lifting on any eventual show, writing the pilot script to start with. The pitch runs thus: “Years before the Superman legend we know, the House of El was shamed and ostracised. This series follows The Man Of Steel’s grandfather as he brings hope and equality to Krypton, turning a planet in disarray into one worthy of giving birth to the greatest superhero ever known.”
With any luck, it will have some of the more outlandish elements of Krypton as seen in Zack Snyder’s first Super-film, albeit on a telly budget and without utilising any unauthorised elements. So don’t go expecting Russell Crowe to show up, though Jor-El might be seen as a young man...