Syfy has been busy lately when it comes to casting actors for its upcoming Superman prequel pilot, which will be called Krypton. Choosing a crew to play the family of the future Man of Steel can be no easy task. Luckily, the show has landed a Game of Thrones star who should be more than capable of tackling his role. Ian McElhinney will play Val-El in the Krypton pilot.
Ian McElhinney is probably best known nowadays for his role as Ser Barristan the Bold in the first four seasons of Game of Thrones. Although Ser Barristan started out as a relatively minor character in King's Landing, his defrocking from the King's Guard by Joffrey set him on a path to greater prominence. Barristan joined up with Daenerys in Essos and joined her cause to return the Seven Kingdoms to Targaryen rule. He became a key advisor to her in Meereen, but he was slain by the Sons of the Harpy back in Season 5, and Ian McElhinney has been absent from the show ever since. For those of us who grew to love Barristan, McElhinney's casting on Krypton comes as great news.
Of course, Krypton sounds awfully different from Game of Thrones. The Syfy pilot will start two generations before Kal-El would be born and grow to become Superman. Instead, it will follow Kal-El's grandfather Seg-El, who must spend his days on Krypton working to restore dignity to the House of El and save the planet from chaos. Ian McElhinney is on board as Val-El, who is the grandfather of Seg-El. It sounds like Val-El may have played a role in the shaming of the House of El; according to Deadline, Val-El is a genius who promotes the unconventional notion that exploration of space is an act of self-defense. Additionally, he has tried and failed to warn the higher-ups of Krypton that a threat from ages ago is returning to menace the planet yet again.
Ian McElhinney isn't the only actor to win a part in Kryton so far. We previously revealed that Cameron Cuffe landed the lead role of Seg-El, and Georgina Campbell had been cast as Lyta Zod. Now, we know of five others who will appear in the pilot. Elliot Cowan (Da Vinci's Demons), Ann Ogbomo (World War Z), Rasmus Hardiker (Your Highness), Wallis Day (The Royals), and Aaron Pierre (Tennison) are set to turn up on Krypton as well.
All in all, Krypton is shaping up to be unlike anything else on television. The most similar show would have to be the Batman prequel series Gotham on Fox, and even that show is mostly an origin story about famous Batman characters. Krypton sounds like it will explore aspects of Superman mythology unknown to most people. Hopefully the show takes full advantage of the acting chops of Ian McElhinney for the pilot.
There's no saying when we can expect to actually see the Krypton pilot, so be sure to check out our fall TV premiere schedule to see what you can watch in the meantime.
