Oh my sweet Lord, they're making a show about Superman's Grandad now.

[SmokeMonster]

... why bother tying it to Superman mythology?

Because tying it to the Superman name broadens its awareness/appeal. It's the reason we're talking about it here on superhero forums.

Same thing with Gotham. It's trying to appeal to the crime/police-drama crowd and the Batman crowd. The nature of the show means it won't please or interest all of the latter, but it still means more views than not tying it to the Batman name at all.

[AwesomeUsername]

Syfy? Boy, are the special effects going to be bad... They seriously lack on that department. Either way, I'm excited. We're still talking about a Superman related show, so count me in.

GOTHAM is terrible, ARROW is bad, CONSTANTINE is abysmal

I like you already. Never got the hype with any of those shows either.

[Coal Tiger]

Because tying it to the Superman name broadens its awareness/appeal. It's the reason we're talking about it here on superhero forums.

Same thing with Gotham. It's trying to appeal to the crime/police-drama crowd and the Batman crowd. The nature of the show means it won't please or interest all of the latter, but it still means more views than not tying it to the Batman name at all.

So it's a tacit admission that the show on it's own merits has no appeal beyond the Superman tie-in.

[Grim Ghost]

Seems like kind of a bizarre choice. As others have already said I think a show about Jor-El with a lot of the politics of him dealing with the Science Council of Krypton could have been quite interesting. But why his grandfather? Very strange.

[daBronzeBomma]

The grandfather angle is more than a bit odd. Why remove your show a generation further from Superman (i.e. the true cash cow) than you have to?

Unless Yar-El (if that's the name they're using for Jor-El's dad; that's what they used in the novel THE LAST DAYS OF KRYPTON) is being set up kinda like a sci-fi version of Ned Stark from GAME OF THRONES, who spoilers:

was introduced as the main hero of the show in the first season, but was then (for the non-book followers) shockingly killed off before the 1st season ended, and his sons Robb Stark and Jon Snow then took over the narrative from that point

end of spoilers.

I agree, if this show were focusing on Jor-El and Lara, 100% onboard with this show. Plus you also have Zor-El and Alura ... and young Kara. Could Syfy's KRYPTON tie into CBS' SUPERGIRL? I hope so.

Anyway, I'm hoping the Yar-El angle is ultimately a red herring and the show does focus on Jor-El and Lara.

[DochaDocha]

More often than not, prequels are steps in the wrong direction.

[hellacre]

I think it sounds really interesting. I'd be all for getting to know about hx of the House of El and Krypton.

[adkal]

Ah, so:

A young (pre-teen) Jor-El is in his mini-lab doing some calculations with his best friend, Non. They're using old research material Yar-El has given them, and they rush to Yar-El to tell him about the astonishing conclusions they have come to and wanting to know if their calculations are correct. Yar-El is lost in thought, his mind remembering the crisis-days of the Black Zero Assault (he stubbornly refuses to call it a 'coup') and the terrifying moment when the ground shook from the explosion of the infernal device they had set off in Krypton's core (the group's attempt to repeat what the original Black Zero had done thousands of years ago towards the end of the clone wars).

Yar-El looks at the holo-screens Jor and Non are showing him and, for a moment, he remembers seeing these results before, but the memory dashes away and disappears. Instead, another, stronger image imposes itself: 'insufficient data', and his head throbs. He squints in pain and says, almost robotically: 'I'm sorry boys. You're on the right track but you probably need more data.'

[daBronzeBomma]

(re-posted what I put in the TV/Movies forum):

It's kinda weird: I was totally joking to my friends one day a few years ago:

"So SMALLVILLE just ended (and what a crappy ending, amirite??). But hey, SMALLVILLE was just part 1 of a tv series trilogy ... Part 2 will be a KRYPTON tv series, and Part 3 will be a METROPOLIS tv series. We'll see Superman's entire life story on television, from his conception to death! What other character in all of fiction could you say that about??"

And we laughed (or I laughed, I think they gave me eye-rolls).

So, an actual KRYPTON television series, eh?

The bit about the House of El being in a state of disgrace and the show following Kal-El's grandfather (Yar-El?) instead of his father Jor-El is an odd choice.

Syfy has to know that nobody gives a crap about Yar-El compared to the crap they would give about Jor-El (especially post-Russell Crowe) being the lead. I think (and this is total speculation on my part, since we literally have no reliable source to go to yet) that this is some deliberate misdirection.

My pitch for KRYPTON
==============

Opening Scene, Season 1, Episode 1:

Fade in.

We see a green explosion that fills the screen. The words "THE FUTURE" ominously appear then fade as a bleak barren landscape comes into view. Then another blast, erupting upward from the ground. And another and another. Pillars of what look like green lava bursting everywhere like columns of fire. Structures crumbling, the oceans boiling, the red sun Rao looming larger than ever in the sky. Air cruisers abruptly losing power and crashing into occupied buildings.Everywhere people running around in a complete panic before being swallowed up by earthquakes. Already there are visible bodies beginning to pile up. A lone hooded figure, their face obscured by a gas mask observes all the destruction around them before pressing a button on their wrist. As the world continues to rip itself apart, the figure is alerted to the sudden presence of another similarly hooded and masked figure, who merely says one word to the former: "Why?"

Fade out / Title sequence.

Fade in.

Green sky and pleasant surroundings. The words "THE PAST" appear and fade as the family home of the House of El comes into view. We meet the patriarch Yar-El and his two adult sons. The elder son and heir, Zor-El, is already married to the beautiful Alura and has a daughter named Kara. Zor is a born leader, charismatic and occasionally hot-tempered,a rising star in Kryptonian politics. Much is expected of Zor as Yar tries to bring the House of El back to prominence.

Then there is the secondborn son, Jor-El. Jor is different. Quiet and mild-mannered, far more studious and intelligent than his older brother, Jor-El has no social or political ambitions whatsoever. The family is concerned about Jor due to his apparent lack of social skills (think a much less abrasive Sheldon Cooper from TBBT) and overdeveloped devotion to science. Yar is determined that Jor's obvious intelligence be put to practical use for the benefit of society (if not the family directly). Yar sends Jor to apprentice for Krypton's official Scientist Supreme, an affably brilliant giant named Nam-Ek ... who happens to employ a young woman named Lara Lor-Van.

I can see this series as being a circle. The first scene of the show's first episode would also be the first scene of the show's final episode. So everything would be leading up to that pivotal moment. There would have be a set limit to how long the show could run. I say no more than 5 years max, each season having its own crisis.

KRYPTON, season 1: Jor-El and Lara meet. The long-held ban on cloning is illegally broken, only to find that Kryptonian DNA somehow actively resists perfect cloning. Now there is a race of imperfect bizarre out-of-control clones wreaking havoc. Jor and Lara get betrothed.

KRYPTON, season 2: Jor-El and Lara marry. Due to havoc wreaked by the Bizarro clones, the Science Council commissions the development of a living Doomsday weapon to protect the population. Guess what ensues. Jor and Lara expecting a child.

KRYPTON, season 3: Kal-El is born. Yar-El is killed. Envoys from the realms of New Genesis and Apokolips appear on Krypton, each side looking for yet another edge in their eternal war. Darkseid meets baby Kal-El. Jor-El and Lara discover Earth.

KRYPTON, season 4: Jor-El and Lara send probes to Earth and begin learning about them. Vril Dox the artificial intelligence arrives and first isolates Kandor under a force field and begin experimentation of those trapped inside. Kryptonians fight to free brethren before Vril Dox escapes with the city. Kara is lost in an experimental spaceship.

KRYPTON, season 5: The loss of Kandor results Zod declaring himself ruler and instigating a full-fledged Kryptonian civil war against the Science Council. Jor-El finally has incontrovertible proof that the planet is dying and will end soon. War comes to a head. Come back to first scene only now it reads "THE PRESENT". Kal-El placed in rocketship and escapes as the planet explodes.

[neonrideraryeh]

Yo dawg I heard you like origin stories so I kept making origin stories of origin stories.

Whether this has this has the subtlety of Gotham (which is to say none at all) or not, the problem with a Krypton series is how do you get invested in the characters when you know the entire planet is going to explode at the end of it. Spoilers: the characters in Krypton die at the end. Though they could bottle them up in Kandor, I guess... maybe. Still though, while I'll probably give this a watch, I don't see the need to make these prequels when there are so many more exciting comic properties to adapt that would be even better to watch. Give me my Booster Gold sy-fy. If the cringe inducing Gotham gets season 2 while the continually improving Constantine doesn't, it would feel like an injustice (but you should watch Gotham anyway because it's funny to watch something that isn't quite sure what it's trying to be).

[LoneNecromancer]

I don't even think this'll get made.

If it does, I guess I imagine the main villain will be Brainiac and it'll just really be Brainiac: the prequel to his appearances as the main villain in Justice League (probably).

From what we saw off Krypton in MoS it did look like a cool-looking place as far as visuals went, but I can't even imagine recreating that on a SyFy TV budget, so...yeah. It's just a pitch that I'd be stunned about it even reaching a pilot.

[Powerboy]

This premise is- peculiar. Not saying it can't work, just a strange choice.

I've liked everything DC has been doing on television lately so I'd give it a chance. Not to say I like every detail but, overall, I've liked it.

[BBally]

You know what? I'm okay with this, a show like this continues to prove to naysayers that Superman's mythos is more diverse than they give it credit for (if done right of course, which is troublesome that Syfy is involved.)

Let's see, I've enjoyed Smallville, Arrow and am really having fun with The Flash so I'm interested along with the Supergirl TV series (never seen GOTHAM though)

[ekrolo2]

I don't know if Syfy can pull this off but if their Krypton is anything like the society we saw in MoS then I say go for it. I've long wanted something Pre-Superman Krypton related and this could scratch that itch.

[llozymandias]

If done right a series set on Krypton would be very hard to do. How are they going to make it look convincing when krypton is many millennia ahead of earth in science & technology?