Krypton, besides being the home planet of the iconic Superman, was also briefly a successful prequel series to the man himself. Syfy has cancelled the show in question, Krypton, after just two seasons, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily gone forever. Another show that seems dependent on this cancellation but may find home elsewhere was the potential spinoff series Lobo, which would follow the previously introduced character of the same name.
Krypton, the series, followed Superman’s grandfather, Seg-El, as he grapples with the decision to save his home planet or let it be inevitably destroyed so that his grandson’s future remains intact. Cameron Cuffe stars as Seg-El with David S. Goyer and Cameron Welsh executive producing and Welsh also serving as showrunner. Lobo is described as an indestructible intergalactic bounty hunter and portrayed as a bit of an anti-hero. The man behind the character, at least on Krypton, was Emmett J. Scanlan, who was set to reprise his role in a potential Lobo spinoff series. Now with both shows in development limbo, there’s no telling who will eventually take on the mantle of Lobo.
As a show distributed on a basic cable network, Krypton had a much stronger season one than it did season two. As a channel, Syfy had a rough year as well, cancelling Deadly Class and Happy! after just one and two seasons respectively. Another cult favorite, Wynonna Earp, also stalled in the early stages of production for lack of funding before being picked back up for a previously promised season three. But thanks to the constantly growing network of streaming providers, Krypton may not be totally forsaken yet.
Earlier this year Syfy cancelled The Expanse, which was then picked up and renewed for fifth season by Amazon. And while Syfy may have distributed Krypton, they didn’t actually produce the show. It’s also important to consider that Syfy is owned by NBCUniversal which hasn’t quite gotten their streamer off the ground, but that the show was initially created by Warner Media, which is already running a streamer specifically devoted to the DC Universe. There is some speculation that it could be picked up and put on one of its newer networks, like HBO Max, but in the meantime season one of Krypton is already on the DC Universe service. Lobo’s future remains up in the air.
Season one of Krypton can be found on DC Universe with season two expected to be added in 2020.