Krypton Casts Superman's Hot Grandpa

Move over Superman: you've just been out-hotted by your own grandfather. Or rather, ancestor, as SyFy and Warner Horizon Television have just revealed that actor Cameron Cuffe will take the lead role in their Superman-prequel pilot, Krypton.

Set long before Superman was flying up, up and away, and even long before the titular planet exploded and Superman was sent to Earth (otherwise it's going to be a very, very weird show), Krypton follows Seg-El (Cuffe), the ancestor of both Kal-El (that would be Superman's Kryptonian name) and Jor-El (Kal-El's Dad, played by Russell Crowe in Man of Steel). Seg-El is the head of the El family, a brilliant technician just like Jor-El will be, some day. But at the start of the pilot, he's been stripped of his rank, and in the lowest caste on Krypton.

A little bit of comics history on Superman's home planet, in case your only experience with Krypton is that it's little chunks of green, glowing rock. In the books, the society is split into different castes separated by talent and skill. Scientists are at the top of the heap, along with the castes focusing on religion, art, and the military. Workers are at the bottom, and are not allowed to contribute to the ruling council.

Given that somewhere down the line, Jor-El is a respected scientist before he starts raving about the planet breaking apart, sounds like Seg-El better get on his Seg-Way if he wants to move up the Kryptonian caste structure.

Also of note? Though prior descriptions (and the source material) pinned Seg-El as Superman's grandfather, the language from SyFy is careful to note he's the man of steel's "ancestor." Grandfathers are ancestors, you guys, but maybe there's a twist coming?

Cuffe is an Irish actor who mostly has theatrical experience, though he did appear in Florence Foster Jenkins and on ITV's The Halcyon. Krypton is executive produced by David S, Goyer and Damian Kindler. Goyer also co-wrote the teleplay for the pilot, which will be directed by co-executive producer Colm McCarthy.