James Gunn gave us what could be the final trailer for Superman, which is slated for release in July.
The teaser, which announced that tickets for the film were officially on sale, had many highlights that got audiences buzzing, chief amongst which was that shot of Clark and his dog Krypto leaping into action together. Trailer one produced a similar reaction.
It started with a shot of an injured Superman crash-landing in icy terrain. Too weak to stand, let alone walk, he blew a shrill whistle, and Krypto came running. The dog was so excited to see Clark that it jumped all over him, unknowingly exacerbating his injuries.
Then it took a corner of Clark’s cape in its mouth and dragged him home. That one scene did more to convert James Gunn haters into enthusiastic fans than any other moment in the trailer.
Most of those individuals who initially criticized Gunn’s decision to direct the film, arguing that Gunn favoured a childish tone they disliked, could not stop regaling the internet with stories about their own dogs, which mirrored Krypto in their behaviour. Krypto has made believers out of Gunn’s most passionate skeptics.
Reminds me of Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Rocket, a talking raccoon, generates more excitement than any other character in that franchise. The third film struck such a strong chord with critics and audiences alike, reducing cinemagoers to tears, because the animal character goes through significant hardship.
Fictional franchises with animal characters tend to produce the most exaggerated reactions amongst moviegoers. Your parents won’t stop crying about Artax, the horse that drowned in mud in 1984’s The NeverEnding Story, because animal tragedy hits so much harder than human suffering.
Your favourite YouTube reviewers have a stronger reaction to an injured or dying dragon in Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon than they do to the many human characters who perish in that universe. Those passionate responses mimic real life because, at the end of the day, humans love animals more than people.
Betterhelp covered that topic in an April 2025 article. They highlighted a study by Jack Levin in which the criminologist exposed participants to a fake story about a victim who was left broken and unconscious after an assault with a baseball bat.
After changing the victim’s identity in the story for different participants (an adult dog, a puppy, an adult human, and a one-year-old baby), Levin found that his subjects showed more empathy for the puppy, adult dog, and baby and significantly less empathy for the adult human.
This tells us something important. People don’t necessarily respond to animals in fiction. They react to innocence and helplessness, and nothing fits that description more accurately than dogs and babies. Now, you may wonder how modern humans can elevate the value of a dog over that of people. Here’s where it gets even more interesting.
Apparently, looking at a dog produces oxytocin, the so-called ‘Love Hormone,’ which binds to receptors in the uterus and mammary glands, regulating bonding between parents and their infants.
Merely gazing into your child’s eyes can generate oxytocin in the infant, increasing attachment. A similar development occurs between dogs and their human owners. To the human mind, dogs and babies are essentially the same.
Keep in mind that, unlike humans, dogs typically maintain a relatively jovial demeanor, always warm and receptive, never offensive, always looking to cuddle and play, always happy to see you.
Dogs manifest the sort of unconditional love you don’t find in humans. Even here, in Uganda, where that sort of sentimentality towards animals is anathema, the reception to Krypto in the trailers has been largely positive, suggesting that Hollywood is starting to shape our attitude towards animals.
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