Matthew Lawrence’s comment at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend on Krypto, the canine star of James Gunn’s Superman, has sparked online debate about the importance of the CGI four-legged friend to the titular hero — and prompted some to suggest the actor rewatch the film’s final scene.
Lawrence was at Comic-Con to promote his new graphic novel with his brothers, The Lawrence Brothers Detective Agency, and during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter at our onsite suite, he drew a question from our popcorn bucket asking if he’s seen Superman. The actor took it as an opportunity to pontificate about the role the dog plays in the movie and to David Corenswet’s titular character.
“This really got me,” Lawrence said. “I’m a huge animal lover. I work in conservation. I have more pets than I can count, most of them reptiles and amphibians, but I’ve had some amazing connections with dogs over the years, and that is not the relationship that I wanted to see. I think it needed more heart. It needed more depth. He was kind of like: ‘This dog. I don’t really care about this dog.’”
Lawrence is interrupted by his brother, Andrew, who corrects the record, telling him how in the movie, Superman was “just watching the dog.” This fact is revealed at the end of the film when (spoiler alert!) an inebriated Supergirl (Milly Alcock) arrives at the Fortress of Solitude to collect her feisty pet. It’s also mentioned in dialogue throughout the blockbuster action hit that little Krypto does not belong to Superman. Either ignoring or not hearing the interjection from his brother, Lawrence continued his critique.
“I think … if you’ve had a dog and you had a real connection with your dog, that is not it. And I wish I would have seen that, because it always needs to be highlighted,” he concluded.
A clip of the interview moment posted to THR’s X account was quick to receive comments pointing out this plot revelation of Krypto’s true master at the end of the movie. Several users also debated the significance of the entirely CGI pooch to the plot of the movie, which sees Superman travel into a pocket dimension to retrieve the pet, who manages to help save the day more than once before the movie concludes.
“The dog is not his and krypto is fucking up his place and it’s not a trained dog. He also literally risks his life to go save krypto and Louis even challenged him on that. Idk what bro is on about 🤔.” X user xblazrx wrote.
User @house of woes agreed with Lawrence, writing on X, “Loved Superman but he’s right” and that, “Krypto was just a tad off tonally for me.”
“Even after his parents evil reveal his main concern was finding krypto . He was whistling every time he got a chance. Only time he lost his cool was when he confronted lex for his dog . Also, krypto cried and didn’t want him to leave at the start of movie so that explains a bond,” shared @bullseye0777.
Lawrence’s read of the dog-superhero relationship isn’t entirely off base, as some frostier moments between the pup and man of steel are peppered throughout the movie. His heart is certainly in the right place, but he may want to check out Superman again. In the meantime, the actor’s graphic novel with his brothers, Joey and Andrew, was launched at Comic-Con via a Kickstarter, and the brothers have designs on an expansion into an animated and live-action show in which they run a detective agency.
Krypto, the CGI rendering of a mixed-breed pooch who steals many scenes in Gunn’s box office smash, is based on a rendering of the filmmaker’s rescue dog, Ozu.
