My fellow dog lovers, let’s have a chat about Supergirl. If you’ve seen any of the trailers for the second movie in James Gunn’s DC Universe, you’ll know that the movie is a revenge story about Kara fighting to save her superpowered dog Krypto, who is poisoned by Krem of the Yellow Hills, the leader of a space pirate gang called the Brigands. If you’re anything like me and get really upset watching poor pooches suffer, you might be a little concerned about going to see Supergirl. While we won’t get into any major spoilers, we can talk a bit about Krypto’s role in the movie and you can make a decision on whether or not you want to shell out the cash to see it in theaters or maybe wait for it to come to streaming.
Krypto’s poisoning is the inciting incident for Kara’s intergalactic revenge trip, but the dog himself has less screentime than you’d probably expect given how central he is to the movie. The early segments show Kara and Krypto partying, drinking, and barhopping on alien planets without yellow suns, thus she doesn’t have her sun-charged Supergirl powers here and can actually feel the effects of alcohol. At first, the two’s relationship is light-hearted, but it all changes when Krem shows up to steal her ship to get off-world. Krypto, good boy that he is, attempts to stop the pirates from taking off, and is shot with a poisoned dart. The actual shot scene is pretty quick, and well-telegraphed if you want to cover your eyes.
However, the scene of Krypto suffering from the effects of the poison is mercilessly long. Kara takes the poor pup to a local healer, and that’s where she’s told that this poison is part of an interrogation tactic the Brigands use, slowly poisoning their targets and promising to provide the antidote they keep on their person if they get the information they want. Thus begins Kara’s quest to track down Krem across different planets to grab the antidote and bring it back to Krypto.
Seeing Krypto lying on the healer’s table in pain was A Lot, but Supergirl never quite gets to Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 levels of intolerable animal suffering. Krypto’s health is a ticking clock in the back of Kara’s mind throughout Supergirl, but you don’t see the sweet baby actively dying throughout. There’s a lot of anticipatory grief for him during the movie, and one scene in which Kara worried she wouldn’t be able to save Krypto or even get back to him in time to say goodbye really gutted me, but overall, in terms of on-screen dog suffering, it’s pretty light. Definitely be ready for a couple of scenes that might be a rough watch, but you’ll probably be fine to see the movie through to the end.
And if you want The Big Spoiler, you can scroll down a little further:
Does Krypto the dog die in Supergirl?
Nope. Kara manages to get the antidote and save him. Rest easy.