SyFy's KRYPTON Taps Shakespeare for Romantic Sub-Plot

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Submitted by S.J. Mitchell on Wed, 03/07/2018 - 08:37

SyFy's upcoming series, KRYPTON, will feature a forbidden romance between an El and a Zod.

“Two households, both alike in dignity
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.”

Act 1, (Prologue): ROMEO AND JULIET, written by William Shakespeare

When we begin KRYPTON, the House of El won't be "alike in dignity" to House Zod, as it will have disgracefully fallen out of favor with society. But the fact remains that anybody who is familiar with both the story of Superman and Romeo and Juliet, can understand the parallels of an El and a Zod falling in love.

In an interview with SyFy Wire, Cameron Cuffe briefly discusses the relationship. KRYPTON has a very strict "class structure" where every family has a role to play in society and when we meet Seg-El the House of El will have fallen into disgrace.

The son of a very proud and noble house that was full of scientists, free thinkers and revolutionaries, they have been cast aside to the "Rankless District". Growing up as a member of a disgraced house in Krypton's lowest class system, Seg-El is angry and thankless. Having to fight his way out of problems and be quick witted to escape danger, Seg isn't as fully formed as Superman.

Meanwhile the House of Zod is a great house of warriors and soldiers. Among those is Lyta Zod (Georgina Campbell), who is a high ranking commander of the military guild sworn to protect Krypton. The society of Krypton has a very strict idea of who you are and what you can do.

Seg and Lyta first meet when she arrests him for hustling "guilded folk" and they fall in love. As explained by Cameron Cuffe "They recognize something in each other...an escape from responsibilities. An escape from this world that's trying to drag them apart all of the time. In this world, that sort of spark of love is an act of rebellion. It's a heck of a love story."

Superman fans have only known of conflict between Houses El and Zod. In 2013's MAN OF STEEL it was hinted that El and Zod had at one time been friends. And even though KRYPTON isn't being pitched as a direct prequel to MoS it's possible that there could be some connections after all. Could Seg and Lyta's romance have started a friendship between the two houses?

As we learn more about the upcoming series we discover that things aren't nearly as 'black and white' as we initially thought. Cuffe mentions that there are no real heroes or villains on Krypton and everyone stradles the moral 'gray' area. Creators David S. Goyer and Damian Kindler have found ways to ensure there will be no shortage of drama for the show.

Watch the full interview below: