Krypton TV Series Casts General Zod Ancestor

Syfy's series about Superman's grandfather is getting ready to go into production. We have the first character details here.

Announced back in December of 2014, Syfy's Kryptonwill take the Gothamroute, and tell a pre-Superman story. So if Smallvilledidn't go far enough back for you, Krypton should do the trick. Syfy has ordered a pilot that will be directed by Colm McCarthy, and written by David S. Goyer (Man of Steel) and Ian Goldberg (Once Upon a Time). Sleepy Hollow's Damian Kindler is on board as series showrunner.

The first piece of casting news for the Kryptonpilot is here. Georgina Campbell will play Lyta Zod, who is, as you expect, an ancestor of Superman villain General Zod. According to Deadline, Lyta Zod "is a member of Krypton’s military caste and the daughter of a general, Alura Zod. Lyta Zod serves as a cadet — and has also been having a clandestine, forbidden romance with Seg-El (Superman's paternal grandfather)."

Krypton TV Characters

We also have some other character details, courtesy of TV Line.

First, we have the House of El...

Seg-El is the series lead, and this is Superman's paternal grandfather. He's described as "athletic, quietly confident, and in his 20s." Unless I'm mistaken, Seg-El was added to the Superman mythos in an issue of the excellent 1990s Starmanseries.

Val-El: "Seg’s genius grandpa defied death by going into the Phantom Zone, and is a staunch believer in space exploration."

Ter-El is Seg's great-grandfather. I guess Kryptonians live a really long time.

Dev-Em is described as a "chiseled, twentysomething bad boy." Dev-Em is from the comics, and is one of the Phantom Zone criminals who periodically ends up on Earth to annoy Superman. Dev-Em was a background character in Man of Steel, for example.

There's also Alura Zod. Alura is also the first name of Supergirl's mother. What the significance of this is anybody's guess.

Krypton TV Story

Here's the closest thing to an official synopsis we have right now.

Years before the Superman became a superhero, the House of El was shamed and ostracized. 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 Super Hero ever known.

"It takes place 200 years before Man of Steel," Mr. Goyer told ComicBook.com at a press junket back in October. Whether he means it's actually intended as a prequel to the film version of Krypton remains to be seen. Warner Bros. has so far been cagey about crossing over their film and TV universes. It sounds possible, though, as Mr. Goyer also said they had "only scratched the surface" in the first act of Man of Steel.

We'll get you more on Kryptonas we hear it. We'll probably get news on whether the pilot is picked up by the end of the summer.