Spoilers ahead for the April 18 episode of Krypton.
The long-awaited Superman prequel series Krypton finally hit the airwaves back in March, and fans have had to wait and see if any classic Superman characters appear via time travel shenanigans. The latest episode revealed that one of the most legendary supervillains of DC Comics will appear on the show, and he'll be played by none other than Colin Salmon. Yes, General Zod himself debuted on Krypton, around 200 years before he's set to face off against the Man of Steel. Krypton showrunner Cameron Welsh revealed why Zod was kept a secret and what the twist of his appearance means for the show, saying this:
Part of why we kept Zod under wraps, and why it wasn't mentioned at Comic-Con, amongst the other things, because it is such a big season-changing twist for us. It's that midseason point where the whole first season gets turned on its head 180 degrees. Adam comes to Krypton with a very specific message to Seg: Superman's birth, his very existence, is under threat and we have to stop Brainiac. Brainiac is coming back in time to change history. But we all know that Brainiac was always coming to take Kandor City. And that's what Adam got wrong; Zod was coming back to change history. So that's the big turn in the season. . . . He's trying to save the planet. So it's a triple twist. It's Zod, but it wasn't Brainiac coming back to destroy the universe, it was Zod traveling back in time, but not to destroy Krypton, to save it.
Cameron Welsh and the rest of the Krypton crew certainly did keep Zod's appearance under wraps! Back at San Diego Comic-Con, Welsh and DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns were dropping names like "Brainiac," "Doomsday," and "Black Mercy" with no mention of Zod, and Welsh's comments during a recent Krypton set visit (via ComicBook.com) prove that they were determined to keep his appearance a secret to preserve the twist that will change everything. Zod's appearance and the reason for it certainly force viewers to reevaluate what they thought they knew of the show.
Brainiac was introduced as the big bad who threatened Superman's very existence all those years in the future, and viewers who know their DC Comics history had no reason to doubt that Brainiac's interference could be the game-changer in the series. After all, he too is one of Superman's most legendary enemies. Who could have guessed that the time travel twist with the greatest potential to influence the future would come from General Zod?
Zod already met his mom (who is younger than him at the Krypton point in the timeline) after his arrival to the past, and his intention is different than Braniac's. Good old Zod is a variable that few fans might have expected, at least at this point in the series. Krypton has already introduced two of the biggest bad guys generally associated with Superman; we can only guess what comes next. This show may be short on superpowers and Justice League members, but it's certainly heavy on some big comic book characters.
New episodes of Krypton air on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on Syfy. For more of what you need to know for heroes and villains on the small screen, swing by our breakdown of superhero TV dates. For more viewing options now and in the coming weeks, check out our midseason TV premiere guide and summer TV premiere schedule.
