Hey, you know what was a horrible idea for a show? Gotham, before Batman. Eh, I guess they could have done "COPS" but with Batman characters. But no. But hey, you know what would be a worse idea? A show about Krypton. We all know how that show would end.
Syfy is doing a show about Krypton, the home planet of Superman. The show is supposed to be a crime procedural with elements of time travel (for cameo purposes) and star Superman's grandfather who's never appeared in a comic book. Essentially this is a show exploring history we've never seen with characters who have never existed, but will feature characters we know and like through a contrived plot device. Will it be tied to "Man of Steel" or "Supergirl"? No. This is just another universe with another Superman. And knowing how DC TV shows have been it won't be cancelled no matter how bad it is. Season one of "Arrow" survived, "Gotham" is still on TV. If anyone complains about this show it'll be because there is no Batman or Batman rip-off character in it. All that being said, I came up with a much better synopsis for "Krypton" that could make a much more interesting show.
First of all, this isn't about Superman's granpappy, this is only a short time before Krypton's destruction. Maybe sixty days/two months. Superman's father Jor-El, our main character, discovers the planet's tectonic plates about going to shift and cause a catastrophic disaster across the globe. He is outed as a mad scientist, ignored by his peers, and humiliated by the council of Krypton. His story revolves around proving the planet will explode and trying to make preparations for it, like building a rocket ship. His wife Lar-El believes him, but also has faith he could be wrong. Because she is with child and hasn't told him yet. Then there is Jor-El's younger brother Zor-El, a fellow scientist who sets out to disprove his brother. Why? Well, for as much as Zor-El loves his brother and agrees with his work, Zor-El has a child. Kara Zor-El, the young woman who will eventually become Supergirl. Zor-El cannot sleep at night thinking his daughter will die at such a young age. And with Jor-El warning everyone about the "doomsday", Kara and the rest of the teenagers of Krypton are met with hysteria. The same type of fear people had during the end of 2012.
Along with Jor, Zar, Lar, and Kara, the fifth character we'd follow closely would be Jor-El's good friend Dru-Zod. Yes, that's General Zod's first name. Dru. Pronounced like "Drew" I assume. A newly decorated general in Krypton's army, Zod's story would provide us with interaction with other species. For example: a long-standing element of DC's cosmology has been a war between the planet of Thanagar (where Hawkman is from) and Rann (where Adam Strange has lived), so maybe Krypton falls between those planets. Or perhaps Zod begins to believe Jor-El and emotionally crumbles. Zod becomes as unstable as the planet itself. He and Jor-El eventually unite and form a plan to move the entirety of planet Krypton's population into The Phantom Zone, a pocket dimension used to contain criminals. Of course, this would go against Kryptonian laws and policies and that place is full of criminals so it's high risk. The council could even call upon a member of The Green Lantern Corps to investigate. Maybe Sinestro or Abin-Surr. Jor-El could opt out of the plan and leave Zod even more frustrated. Jor-El's selfishness to save his newborn child versus saving all of Krypton with a plan that might backfire would drive Zod towards villainy. In more recent stories Zod commanded an army of robots called Eradicators on Krypton, so he could reverse engineer them into his soldiers, essentially using them to send people into The Phantom Zone against their will. Another thing from the comics is that before Krypton blew up, Brainiac arrives and steals Kandor City. What if some Kryptonians see this and they all rush to Kandor knowing they will at least survive? People get hurt in the riots, Jor-El and Lar-El argue about risking their lives with Brainiac. Again, in recent stuff, Zor-El becomes a cyborg version of Superman. Cut the Superman part and Zor-El could go mad and fuse himself with an Eradicator hoping it would allow him and his family to survive the destruction, only to lose himself to the robot's programming. In the last moments of sanity, he builds a rocket like Jor-El's to save his daughter. He and Jor-El plan to send their children to the same planet hoping they can survive and live together. Last plot idea here, in the Golden Age of comic books there was a pair of vigilantes on Krypton named Nightwing and Flamebird. Later stories describe them as mythical dragons, but either way Dick Grayson/Robin is inspired by these stories. So, during the times of fear on Krypton people resort to murder and theft just to distract themselves, but two brave Kryptonians are inspired by their lore to take the names of two legendary beasts and protect the innocent in their last days alive.
So those are some ideas that could work really well, but the driving force of the show would be the inevitable doom of the planet, the downfall of so many great people on Krypton, and the sensation of hope from Jor-El that if his plan works out one of their kind may live and Krypton will survive within his son. Ignoring Brainiac, ignoring the Phantom Zone, ignoring everything else, this is a story about a father spending his last remaining days trying to save his son and carry on the history of his people, the same people who laughed in his face. Jor-El may be just part of Superman's origin, but in this show he'd be the closest thing to Superman this planet has.
Hope you liked by pitch for a "Krypton" show. Hopefully the real show won't be too awful, but stacked against mine? I think I have the right not to get my hopes up.
Thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment