You never hurt the dog!
We had heard that James Gunn made some significant changes to Superman following negative feedback from test-screenings (which tends to be par for the course on any movie), and we now have some details on one particular scene involving Ultraman and Krypto.
While speaking to Jakes Takes, Sara Sampaio (Eve Teschmacher) and María Gabriela de Faría (the Engineer) revealed that a sequence involving the powerful Superman clone(?) punching the Man of Steel's pooch was removed after what sounds like a fairly passionate response from the test-screening crowd.
A recent clip confirmed that Lex Luthor does wind up dog-napping Krypto, but it seems the Engineer will be the one to subdue the hound... in a slightly less violent manner, presumably.
It's not really surprising that fans had this kind of reaction. Krypto may be a Super-dog and well able to recover from most injuries, but animals being hurt in any context is always going to prove controversial.
Superman recently hit box office tracking, with predictions in the $95M-$135M opening weekend range. The movie has already taken in over $10 million from ticket pre-sales.
The DCU reboot stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho.
The cast also Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell as "Ma" and "Pa" Kent, and Milly Alcock's Supergirl has been confirmed to make her debut ahead of her own Woman of Tomorrow movie.
"And that’s a wrap," Gunn posted last year when filming concluded. "God bless our cast and crew whose commitment, creativity, and hard work have brought this project to life. I set out to make a movie about a good man in a world that isn’t always so much. And the goodness and kindness and love I’ve encountered on a daily basis on the set has inspired me and thrust me forward when I felt too spent to move on my own.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It has been an honor. The destination has been Superman, but the journey has been the toil and the laughter and the emotions and ideas and magic we’ve shared together on set - and for that I am forever grateful."
You can check out a synopsis for the movie below.
"In his signature style, James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC universe with a singular blend of epic action, humor and heart, delivering a Superman who’s driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind."