Krypto Saves the Day!

Krypto Saves the Day!
Genre	Superhero
Based on	Krypto by  Otto Binder Curt Swan Sy Barry
Written by	Ryan Kramer David Gemmill
Directed by	Ryan Kramer David Gemmill
Composer	Paul Fraser
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	5
Production
Executive producers	James Gunn Peter Safran Sam Register
Producers	Ryan Kramer Mike Baum
Editors	Nick Simotas Andy Young Michael D’Ambrosio
Running time	5 minutes
Production companies	Troll Court Entertainment The Safran Company Warner Bros. Pictures DC Studios Warner Bros. Animation
Original release
Network	HBO Max YouTube Kids Cartoon Network
Release	August 13, 2025 (2025-08-13) – present
Related
Superman Supergirl

Krypto Saves the Day! is an American short-form animated series based on the DC Comics character Krypto the Superdog. Although James Gunn has stated that it is not canon to the DC Universe (DCU) series of films and television series, it was released as a follow-up to the film Superman (2025), and later Supergirl (2026), as Krypto gets involved in various adventures in Metropolis and beyond. The series premiered on August 13, 2025, with its first episode, "School Bus Scuffle". The second season premiered on September 10, 2026.

Premise

The series follows Krypto the Superdog going on lighthearted adventures in Metropolis.

Characters

The series centers around Krypto the Superdog, the companion animal of Clark Kent / Superman or Kara Zor-El / Supergirl (in different versions), the first of whom also appears in every episode of the first season as Krypto's primary caregiver, and returns in the second season episode "Robo-Pal" (season 2, episode 2). Supergirl appears in every episode beginning with the season 1 finale, "Coastal Catastrophe" (season 1, episode 4), and Lobo appears in every episode beginning with the season 2 premiere, "Space Busted".

In the pilot episode, "School Bus Scuffle", Krypto chases a provocative pigeon and almost causes a school bus driver to crash before saving him and the children, leaving him injured but grateful.

In the second episode, "Halloween Havoc", Krypto chases a black cat who challenges him, and Krypto subsequently steals candy from a candy truck driver to distribute freely for Halloween after destroying children's candy bags.

In the third episode, "Package Pandemonium", Krypto chases a mailman character in an attempt to steal his package, which Superman had secretly ordered for Krypto as a Christmas gift anyway—wrecking then fixing a snowman, ice skating rink and Christmas tree along the way—then at the end sees Santa Claus and begins to chase him.

Supergirl initially makes a brief cameo in the season 1 finale, "Coastal Catastrophe", surfing alongside a series of animals (seagull, crab, turtle, jellyfish and whale) whom Krypto consecutively chases to retrieve his stolen hot dog, before he stops a ship with a driver inside from crashing onto the beach through Krypto's own actions.

Supergirl returns to take over care of Krypto and take him to a dog park during the season 2 premiere "Space Busted", in which Lobo also makes a cameo appearance, who also appears in the following episode, "Robo-Pal", along with Supergirl.

Lex Luthor additionally makes his first appearance in "Robo-Pal", alongside his robotic dog ARF (Autonomous Robot Fido)—who was deployed to eliminate Superman and Supergirl but ends up befriending Krypto and turning on Luthor—as well as characters including Angela Spica / Engineer, Rex Mason / Metamorpho and his son Joey Mason, a monkey Luthor had seemingly conducted mind experiments on, a kaiju, and an elderly knitting woman.

Appearances

Character	Season 1				Season 2
	E1	E2	E3	E4	E1	E2
Krypto the Superdog	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Clark Kent / Superman	✓	✓	✓	✓		✓
Pigeon	✓
School bus driver	✓
Black cat		✓
Candy truck driver		✓
Mailman			✓
Santa Claus			✓
Kara Zor-El / Supergirl				✓	✓	✓
Seagull				✓
Crab				✓
Turtle				✓
Jellyfish				✓
Whale				✓
Ship driver				✓
Lobo					✓	✓
Lex Luthor						✓
ARF (Autonomous Robot Fido)						✓
Angela Spica / Engineer						✓
Rex Mason / Metamorpho						✓
Joey Mason						✓
Mind-controlled monkey						✓
Kaiju						✓
Elderly knitting woman						✓

Episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	4		August 13, 2025 (2025-08-13)	April 18, 2026 (2026-04-18)
2	TBA		September 10, 2026 (2026-09-10)	TBA

Season 1 (2025–26)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"School Bus Scuffle"	Ryan Kramer	Ryan Kramer	August 13, 2025 (2025-08-13)
Krypto the Superdog embarks on a high-flying chase that creates major mayhem for a bus driver on his way to school. While Clark Kent / Superman isn't looking, Krypto chases a provocative pigeon he sees through the window in Metropolis City, and in the process almost causes a school bus to fall off a bridge before saving it with all the passengers inside, leaving the bus driver injured but grateful. Afterward he sees the pigeon again and resumes the chase.
2	2	"Halloween Havoc"	Ryan Kramer	Ryan Kramer	October 1, 2025 (2025-10-01)
When a black cat crosses Krypto's path, he's determined to catch it before Halloween night is through. Krypto chases a child's black cat that challenges him during trick-or-treat for Halloween, while Superman searches for more candy to give out. After destroying several upset children's candy bags during the chase, Krypto subsequently steals masses of candy from a candy truck driver to distribute freely, resulting in the driver coming to the house and charging Superman over $1000 for the entire truck of candy.
3	3	"Package Pandemonium"	Ryan Kramer	Ryan Kramer	November 28, 2025 (2025-11-28)
Krypto smells something special in a holiday package, and in his eagerness to grab the gift, he makes a mess of Metropolis's festivities. Krypto chases a mailman in an attempt to steal his package that he could smell, containing a steak, which Superman had secretly ordered for Krypto as a Christmas gift anyway. Along the way, Krypto wrecks, then after feeling guilty subsequently fixes, a snowman, ice skating rink and Christmas tree that families and children were enjoying, using his laser eyes (heat vision) and cold breath abilities to melt and re-freeze, and his flight and super strength to repair. After Superman bestows him the gift, Krypto sees Santa Claus and begins to chase after him too, desiring his larger gift haul.
4	4	"Coastal Catastrophe"	David Gemmill	David Gemmill	April 18, 2026 (2026-04-18)
A fun day at the beach goes sideways when some sneaky foes get between Krypto and his hot dog. At the beach with Superman, Krypto contends with a series of several animals that keep stealing his hot dog—a seagull, a crab, a turtle, a jellyfish, and finally a whale—with Krypto consecutively chasing each one to retrieve it before another snatches it off him, while encountering a surfing Kara Zor-El / Supergirl along the way. After accidentally creating a tidal wave by dropping the whale into the ocean from the sky, Krypto then has to stop a ship from crashing onto the beach with a driver inside unable to control it, which is heading toward all the beachgoers as well as the animals he vied with. Krypto tries freezing the water underneath the ship but it simply turns into a floating sheet of ice and continues carrying the ship toward the beach at high speed. He then melts the ice but the ship doesn't slow down enough. Finally, Krypto uses his tail as a high-speed propeller in the ocean combined with his super strength to push against the ship and halt its movement just before it reaches the sand, saving everyone from the consequences of his own actions once again.

Season 2 (2026)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
5	1	"Space Busted"	Ryan Kramer	Ryan Kramer	September 10, 2026 (2026-09-10)
When Supergirl finally gets Krypto onto the space bus, his full-blown travel panic sends the ride spiraling into cosmic chaos. With Krypto now under Supergirl's care, she forcefully takes him on a trip to a dog park in space, accompanying several aliens on a spaceship bus. Krypto, initially believing it to be an unwanted veterinary visit, repeatedly attempts to escape, until he becomes excited and trusting upon their arrival and realizing the destination. Meanwhile, a stunned and confused Lobo passing on his motorbike briefly catches a glimpse of the ship being bumped around by Krypto from the inside, and stops in his tracks to watch it. Krypto briefly runs around the park at superspeed before the bus needs to move on and he voluntarily gets back in.
6	2	"Robo-Pal"	Careen Ingle	Careen Ingle	October 1, 2026 (2026-10-01)
Lex Luthor deploys a robo-dog to hunt Superman and Supergirl, but the mission unravels when Krypto and the machine become best friends. While Krypto plays in a park in Metropolis as Superman and Supergirl watch over him, they encounter a kaiju that the latter two begin to fight with. Meanwhile, in the LuthorCorp Tower, Lex Luthor attempts to train a robotic dog named ARF (Autonomous Robot Fido) to eliminate Superman and Supergirl. However, once deployed, ARF encounters Krypto and ends up befriending him and categorizing him as "friend". Krypto and ARF begin to play around with their environment, encountering multiple characters including Angela Spica / Engineer, Rex Mason / Metamorpho and his son Joey Mason, and Lobo, whom ARF magnetizes via his motorbike and launches through the window of a room where an elderly woman is knitting. Frustrated with the lack of progress, Luthor descends to the park from the sky along with his mind-controlled monkey he had been experimenting on, and reprimands ARF for not following orders. After destroying his ball as punishment, Krypto attacks Luthor, and seeing the two of them fighting, ARF re-categorizes Luthor from "friend" to "threat" and turns on him, with the two dogs launching him into the same elderly woman's window where Lobo is now knitting alongside her. They then find Superman and Supergirl still fighting the kaiju and join in the fight.

Production

Development

In February 2025, an animated series of four shorts surrounding the character Krypto was announced. The release of the DC Universe (DCU) film Superman led to an increase in dog adoptions as Krypto quickly became a popular character.

Following the release of the first episode, James Gunn confirmed that they are not canon to the DCU.

Writing

The first episode was written by Ryan Kramer, who also directed it. Each episode is themed around a specific season, with the second episode themed around Halloween, the third around winter and the fourth around summer.

Superman appears in the series, marking his second animated appearance in the DCU after his appearance in the Creature Commandos episode "Chasing Squirrels" (2024).

Design and animation

Krypto, like in the film Superman, was modeled on Gunn's dog Ozu. His mannerisms were made to be the same as in Superman, such as having a single ear stick up. His design is less smooth and more textured than previous iterations of the character, particularly in connection to the Cartoon Network series Krypto the Superdog (2005–2006). Superman's design as Clark Kent is based on David Corenswet, his actor in the live-action film.

The logo used the colors of Superman's suit, as well as his "S"-shaped emblem. Surrounding the emblem are shapes that represent Superman's trunks, as well as Krypto's collar. This design was praised by The Direct as it looked like the comics.

Release

The first episode, "School Bus Scuffle", was released as a bonus feature alongside the digital, Blu-Ray, and Ultra HD Blu-Ray release of Superman to promote the rest of the series, as well as on Fandango's website and YouTube two days earlier, August 13, 2025. The second episode, "Halloween Havoc", released October 1, 2025. At this point, it was assumed by sources such as The Direct that the remaining episodes would not reveal until 2026, but the third episode, "Package Pandemonium", was released that November 28 for a holiday-themed episode. The fourth episode was released in 2026 on YouTube. The series also premiered on Cartoon Network on September 20, 2025.

Reception

The episodes had received millions of views by December 2025.

Sabina Graves of Gizmodo praised the continuity between the film and series versions of Krypto, expressing excitement that Krypto's mannerisms were the same as in Superman (2025). Gillian Blum with The Direct said that the first episode felt like a one-shot comic. Superman's appearance in the episodes gave hope to The Direct writer Klein Felt at the interconnected nature of the new DC Universe (DCU) franchise and for the canon to be maintained. Nerdist praised the cartoon as a "cute cartoon adventure".

Talking about the first episode, SlashFilm called it "cute" and "funny". They likened the series to the Marvel One-Shots, self-contained stories which either answered questions or spent time with beloved characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Writer Rafael Motamayor was happy that the episodes expanded on the DCU without the feeling that they are necessary to understand the next installment of the franchise. Similarly, IGN said that, "It doesn't come close to providing any earth-shattering DCU revelations, but it's a cute story that gives fans a few more minutes with one of the standout characters in Superman".

The Direct praised the Christmas setting of the third episode, saying it was "sure to make DC fans' Yuletide gay." Writer Nathan Johnson particularly found it funny that Krypto chases Santa Claus at the end of the episode.

The Direct defended the existence of the show at all, particularly due to their non-canon status to the DC Universe, from perceived fan questioning. They described the series as simply "fun little releases for children and hardcore fans" without having to stay within a strict canon. They also noted the possibility of expanding to other non-canon material, which they viewed as positive. The Direct also suggested that the series could be used as a tax write-off since the shorts were released on YouTube without a means of profiting off of them.

External links

• Krypto Saves the Day! at IMDb 
• Krypto Saves the Day! on DC Universe Wiki, an external wiki