There seems to be a continuing trend of people wanting to do a Superman TV series that doesn't actually feature Superman. It started with Smallville some 15 years ago with their "no tights, no flights" rule, continued with this past season's Supergirl that oh-so-annoyingly digitally manipulated the Man Of Steel so that he was kind of there on occasion, but really wasn't. Now there's Krypton, just given the official green light for pilot by Syfy, that takes place two generations before the destruction of the Man Of Steel's home world. Instead of Kal-El, it follows his grandfather, who is fighting to redeem the honor of the House of El while also saving his beloved world from chaos. The belief is that it could potentially be modeled after the Krypton sequences that opened up 2013's Man Of Steel, but that hasn't been confirmed.
“Krypton is one of the most iconic stories in the comic book universe,” said Bill McGoldrick, Executive Vice President, Scripted Content, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. “In the talented hands of David S. Goyer and the DC Entertainment/Warner Horizon Television team, this exciting Syfy project will take viewers back to Superman’s home to show how the timeless legend began.”
David S. Goyer (who, of course, was involved with The Dark Knight Trilogy, Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice) serves as executive producer, with Damian Kindler, whose most recent credit is the Sleepy Hollow series, as executive producer and showrunner. Peaky Blinders' Colm McCarthy will be directing from a script by Goyer and Ian Goldberg (whose TV work includes Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Once Upon A Time).
Krypton, after several previous reports of a green light, joins an increasing number of television projects based on DC Comics properties, among them Arrow, The Flash, DC's Legends Of Tomorrow, Supergirl (which hasn't been renewed for a second season yet), Gotham, Lucifer, iZombie and Preacher.