'Krypton' Canceled After Two Seasons, 'Lobo' Series No Longer Happening

Much like the planet Krypton itself, Krypton has been destroyed. The Syfy Superman prequel set on the Man of Steel's homeworld has been canceled after two seasons. And that's not the only bad news for Krypton fans. Lobo, a spin-off of the series that was in the works at Syfy, is no longer moving forward. There's always a chance Krypton might find a home somewhere else, though.

Deadline says Krypton is dead. And so is Lobo. And so are the hopes and dreams of all the people who cared about these shows. After two seasons, Syfy has decided not to renew Krypton, and they've pulled the plug on the idea of the Lobo spinoff. But while Lobo is unlikely to get a reprieve, there might still be hope for Krypton. Warner Horizon Scripted Television, who produced the show, is currently hoping to find a new home – possibly DC Universe, or the Warner-owned streaming service HBO Max.Krypton was a hit when it first debuted in 2018. But the ratings drastically dropped off in season 2. As Deadline reports:

With series that come from outside studios...Syfy has to rely solely on linear ratings to monetize a series, which is difficult for expensive shows like Krypton...which command[s] high license fees but whose viewers tend to watch content on digital platforms.

In other words, the risk did not outweigh the reward for Syfy. Krypton was set two generations before the destruction of Superman's homeworld and followed "Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe), the legendary Man of Steel's grandfather, as a young man who fights to save his home planet from destruction. Season 2 brings us back to a changed Kandor, locked in a battle over its freedom and its future. General Dru-Zod (Colin Salmon) is now in control. He's on a ruthless mission to rebuild Krypton according to his ideals and to secure its future by conquering the universe. Faced with a bleak outlook, our hero, Seg-El, attempts to unite a dispersed group of resisters in an effort to defeat Zod and restore hope to their beloved planet. Their chance at redemption is threatened however, by their opposing tactics, shifting alliances and conflicting moral boundaries – forcing each of them to individually determine how far they're willing to go in pursuit of a better tomorrow."

Emmett J. Scanlan played intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo in season 2 of Krypton, and there was already a deal in place for Scanlan to reprise the role for the spin-off. But obviously, that's not happening now. Maybe he'll be able to parlay the part into a Lobo movie instead, since Hollywood has been fascinated with this character for a long, long time.