It might have reduced audiences around the world to emotional rubble, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has nonetheless been singled out for high praise thanks to James Gunn’s heart-wrenching approach to the fate of Rocket, his animal companions, and their horrific treatment at the hands of the High Evolutionary.
That being said, it’s already been made clear by certain sections of the DCU fandom that the goodwill isn’t going to extend through to Superman: Legacy, after Gunn seemingly confirmed that the Man of Steel’s canine companion Krypto the Superdog would factor into the impending reboot, in news that’s sure to make Dwayne Johnson’s blood boil.
To be fair, there’s always a chance the studio’s co-CEO is merely having a giggle at everyone’s expense, but that hasn’t stopped the knives from being sharpened already, with many echoing the sentiment that a fan favorite as far-fetched and outlandish as Krypto should be kept as far away from Legacy as possible for a multitude of different reasons.
While there’s no harm in holding the superpowered Kryptonian dog back for sequels, you can only imagine what the reactions would be were another digital mutt to follow in the footsteps of scene-stealer Cosmo the Spacedog to have Gunn go two-for-two in wisecracking anthropomorphized assistants.
Either way, folks are going to end up getting pissy over Superman: Legacy regardless of who or what does or doesn’t feature, but it won’t really matter at the end of the day if Gunn continues his comic book track record and knocks it right out of the park.