Krypton Casting For Superman's Grandfather And More

Syfy's Krypton is currently casting a number of members of the House of El and the House of Zod, as well as Dev-Em, one of the most notorious criminals in Kryptonian history.

The series, which is expected to go into production soon in Montreal, has issued casting breakdowns for Superman's grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather.

Seg-El is particularly notable: Superman's paternal grandfather appeared in James Robinson's Starman -- with contributions by Krypton executive producer David S. Goyer. In that story, Seg-El and Jor-El helped a time-and-space-displaced Starman escape from a group of Kryptonians with ill intent.

Seg-El's grandfather, Val-El, will also be cast. According to TVLine's breakdown, he "defied death by going into the Phantom Zone, and is a staunch believer in space exploration." Seg-El's father (Val-Els son), Ter-El, is also being cast, although theres nothing in the way of details.

They're also casting Alura Zod and Lyta Zod. Whether Alura Zod will have any ties to Alura In-Ze, the eventual mother of Supergirl, isn't clear, although obviously it's safe to assume that both Alura and her daughter Lyta will have some kind of familial tie to General Zod.

Dev-Em is a complicated character with a few different versions out there. In the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths era, he survived Krypton's destruction to become a foe of Superboy and, eventually, an ally to the Legion of Super-Heroes. In the post-Crisis timeline, Dev-Em was a villain to the end, destroying the moon and leading to the death of Earth during a battle with Superman.

A version of that character was a foe to Kara Zor-El in the Man of Steel Prequel comic, which Goyer played a part in writing.

It's not clear how much mythology Krypton will play with or, indeed, how much they've got at their disposal since they'll have to compete with not only the movies, but also Supergirl for elements of Krypton's past.