Black Adamwon’t be the first superhero Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will play on the big screen after all. Though Johnson is currently shootingBlack Adamwith a planned 2022 release for the movie, word has come in that The Rock has signed on to voice Superman’s pet, Krypto the Super-Dog, in the animated featureDC’s League of Super-Pets. The movie is scheduled to theatrically release in May 2022, about two months beforeBlack Adampremieres.
In addition to lending his voice to Clark Kent’s best friend,Dwayne Johnsonwill produce the movie alongside Seven Bucks Productions' Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia. John Requa, Glenn Ficarra, and Nicholas Stoller are executive producing. The script was written by Jared Stern who will also co-direct with Sam Levine. Per Warner Bros. and Warner Animation Group, an all-star voice cast will make up the rest of the animated super-pets and animal villains. Putting The Rock in a lead role is obviously a great start.
Created by Otto Binder and Curt Swan,Krypto the Super-Dogmade his first appearance inAdventure Comics#210 for DC Comics in 1955. Resembling a Labrador Retriever, the white-haired pooch carries similar superpowers to adult Kryptonians with exceptionally strong senses of hearing and smelling. He was intended to be a one-off character, though he continued to make appearances in comic books due to his popularity with readers.
In 2005, Cartoon Network gave the superpowered animal his own show by launching the animated seriesKrypto the Super-Dog. With Samuel Vincent voicing the dog, the series followed Krypto teaming up with other superhero pets like the Dog Star Patrol, Supergirl’s catStreaky the Supercat, and Batman’s Ace the Bat-Hound. The crime-fighting animals would take on supervillain-owned pets like Joker’s hyenas Bud and Lou, Lex Luthor’s iguana Ignatius, and the Penguin’s trained birds.
On the live-action side, Krypto made his debut in theDC UniverseseriesTitanswith trained dog actors sharing the role. Depicted as a Golden Retriever, this version of Krypto was a test subject who joins the Titans after he’s rescued from a Kryptonite-powered cage at Cadmus Laboratories. The Superman prequel seriesSmallvillealso featured an episode where Clark Kent (Tom Welling) similarly rescues a dog test subject from Luther Corp, but while he considers naming him Krypto, he ends up naming it Shelby.
Krypto has also made another special appearance on the big screen in his animated form. In 2018, the dog appeared inTeen Titans Go! To the Moviesas one of many superhero characters to be given their own movie. He has since appeared on the animated seriesDC Super Hero Girlsas well with Dee Bradley Baker providing the voice of the canine. DC fans can also play as Krypto in various video games likeLego DC Super VillainsandInfinite Crisis.
DC’s League of Super-Petswill be released on June 21, 2025, going up against movies likeMission: Impossible 7andJohn Wick: Chapter 4. As forBlack Adam, that guaranteed blockbuster will follow with its own premiere on June 25, 2025. This news comes to us fromThe Hollywood Reporter.
