Superman prequel TV show Krypton is really happening

There was a rumour of a potential show focussed on Superman's home planet before he was born last year, and now it's really happening.

Krypton is about Kal-El's grandfather doing his thing on the ill-fated planet decades before the little one was born and the whole place went up in very dramatic flames. At a time when the family's name is in ruins, he must rebuild and at least live long enough to have a grandkid.

Frequent DC and Marvel writer David Goyer has been working on the project for a few years with the Syfy channel and now it has officially been given an order to go to the pilot stage. On top of that, Damien Kindler has been set as showrunner and Colm McCarthy is directing.

That all sounds like a project which is really going to happen, which is a bit of a surprise. It's not really clear that there's a hunger for audiences to learn more about Krypton, the opening scenes of Man of Steel were pretty much derided by all, but if it's a good show that won't matter.

One possible sticking point is the positioning of Krypton at Syfy, a place notorious for low budget dross. That said, they've been improving their standards and budgets in recent years with the likes of The Expanse.

Expect more news on Krypton later this year, with a potential air date in 2017.