Syfy’s new series, Krypton, brings with it questions about how superheroes should act. In the past, when DC Comics was by far the most important comic book company (through superheroes such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman), this question was easy to answer: heroes are the ones who give their lives by others, even if they do not deserve it. The “good” was above all else.
This was followed until Marvel began to get popular with titles like X-Men and the figure of the anti-hero stole the scene from the “pure” heroes of DC Incidentally, this is one of the complaints Marvel fans have of DC – which their heroes are very perfect – while DC lovers respond that they are perfect for exactly this reason: because they are superheroes.
While there are these two sides of the conversation, whoever has won the film and television contest is Marvel’s style, so even Warner Brothers, who has the rights to DC, change their heroes to look like those of the company (the film Man of Steel, directed by Zack Snyder, for example, brings a much less “perfect” Superman who neither saves his father in an attempt to keep his identity secret).
However, Krypton, created by David S. Goyer and Damian Kindler, fans of Superman and the old comics, seems to go more towards the style of the old D.C., bringing the ancestor of the Superman to the TV. The series takes place on the home planet of Kal-El, the hero’s real name. The series begins well, showing the small Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe), future grandfather of Kal-El, seeing his relatives are persecuted by the Kryptonian government for devoting themselves to science.
The El family believes there are other civilizations in the universe while the religious leaders of Krypton believe this to be heresy. However, the El family fears that interplanetary civilizations may attack their planet in the future, and to save the Kryptonians, Superman’s ancestors act like him: they are willing to lay down their lives and be persecuted by their leaders.
Things get trickier, though, when Seg becomes a teenager. Although he behaves like a rebellious teenager, it is clear that the creators of Krypton give Seg a pure tone similar to that of Kal-El, since he has a very clear vision of what it is to do good to others. However, soon after, the series begins not only to show a hero in the style of the old D.C., but a tribute to the Superman, drawing attention of what Krypton was trying to create.
So Adam Strange, played by Shaun Sipos (a character created before Marvel’s hero, Doctor Strange), is a human being from the future who goes to Krypton and tells Seg-El that his grandson will be a great hero on planet Earth. To combat Superman, Brainiac, who is one of his enemies, decides to go into the past to destroy Seg and the planet Krypton, to prevent Kal-El from being born.
Suddenly, the whole plot that was based on the discovery of a different planet in the styles of the old DC becomes a tribute to the Superman without it appearing – with the exception of its cover, which disappears gradually and turns a kind of countdown to the destruction of the planet. The homage can make that the intention to create superheroes in the old molds is lost in symbols of the past.
(This article original language is portuguese. This translation was made with Google Translate)