Krypto The Superdog Could Be Stronger Than Superman - But There's One Big Problem

Krypto the Superdog is having a pop culture moment. First, HBO/Max's "Titans" brought Krypto to life as a key character. Then, Superman's best friend starred in the animated "DC League of Super-Pets" movie, with Dwayne Johnson providing the canine's voice. Now, Krypto is heading for his biggest cinematic moment yet, as James Gunn has confirmed that the dog will play a role in 2025's "Superman."

There has never been any question that Krypto is a mighty powerhouse. However, since he's Superman's pet and Superman is ... well, Superman, it's easy to see why some people might consider the super-pup as the weaker of the two. This might be a little unfair, though. In fact, there's plenty of reason to suspect that Krypto might actually be quite a bit stronger than DC's Man of Steel. Let's take a look at available evidence that supports this theory, as well as the one big problem that might be the thing that actually prevents Krypto from being the most powerful Kryptonian superhero after all.

Superman may be the strongest humanoid superhero in the DC Universe, but there's every reason to believe that Krypto has him beat in one key field. Without his sun-induced powers, Superman is just a guy. He may be muscular, but he doesn't really have to hit the gym for his powers or anything. As such, his non-powered grip strength can likely be compared to that of the average, well-built guy in his thirties, which is roughly 216.6 lbs on average.

Multiple versions of Krypto portray him as some sort of white Labrador mix, which gives us some idea about his possible non-powered bite force. Though the James Gunn version of Krypto seems to be a smaller and shaggier guy than the traditional incarnation of the character, let's still err on the side of Labrador when it comes to bite force. This would mean that a powerless Krypto can chomp with a bite force that ranges between 230 and 250 pounds per square inch.

While this doesn't directly translate to grip strength, it's worth noting that the average human bite force doesn't exceed 140 pounds per square inch. As such, it seems fair to say that even without their powers, Krypto's bite is significantly worse than Superman's grip — or his bite, should the Man of Steel be so inclined.

Superman's laundry list of powers includes incredible superhuman senses, including super-hearing, which lets him hear a whisper from across the globe, and super-vision, which enables him to observe the electromagnetic spectrum as he desires. This is an important part of what allows him to safeguard Earth, because without a heightened set of senses he wouldn't be able to locate emergencies big and small. Incidentally, it's also another area where the Man of Steel thoroughly loses to Krypto.

If we once again assume that the power balance between Superman and Krypto roughly compares to that between a baseline human and dog, it's fairly clear who has the superior senses. Dogs have far better hearing than humans, and they can close their inner ear at will, which gives them superior control when it comes to filtering out excess noise. Their sense of smell is famously excellent and far surpasses anything human olfactory organs can achieve. Doggy eyesight can be a more mixed bag and depends on the breed, but Krypto may potentially have excellent natural eyesight, and his potentially inferior natural color perception would likely be rendered meaningless by his yellow sun-induced ability to see the entire electromagnetic spectrum. As a whole, dogs have a wider field of vision than humans, as well as better night vision.

Granted, Superman's senses are so overpowered that Krypto's superiority on any of these fields may be purely nitpicking. Still, when push comes to shove, it's entirely possible that Krypto's canine senses would give him an advantage over his master.

Since a dog's senses are so acute, they can seem to have a "sixth sense" of sorts that allows them to notice things a normal human never could. This is how dogs can sense fear, sadness, and even illness in humans; they simply recognize the small physical changes in the person in question and react accordingly. They're so sensitive to small changes in a familiar human that even untrained dogs have been known to try and alert the person to an impending seizure.

This is based on having heightened senses, so Superman should have no problem doing similar things should the situation call for it. However, as a super-dog with naturally superior senses, Krypto would have an advantage and would almost certainly be much more proficient at such "sixth sense" stuff.

One of the great points of debate among DC superheroes is who's really faster, Superman or the Flash. The two have been known to race each other with various results, at least until Barry Allen demonstrates in Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver's "The Flash: Rebirth" #3 that he can easily outrun Superman when charity races aren't involved. Still, it would be interesting to see how the Flash would fare against Krypto.

The absolute top speed of a non-superpowered human being is currently 27.78 miles per hour. That record is held by Usain Bolt, and he's only been able to hit that top speed for a very brief period of time. From a greyhound's top speed of 45 mph to a border collie's 30 mph dash, many dogs can easily exceed Bolt's speed — and even though he's Kryptonian instead of a human, it's probably safe to say that a non-powered Clark Kent is unlikely to reach similar speeds. As such, a non-powered Krypto would run rings around the guy, and the same should apply when they're both at full power.

Granted, it's not clear how this would translate to flying. Still, in the comics, Superman's flight has been described as a gravity-resistant aspect of his alien physique, enhanced to the max by Earth's sun. Since this would make it a physical attribute, the fact that Krypto's dog body is built for quicker movement should make him a faster flyer as well.

Since Kryptonians get their incredible powers from the Sun, there's one thing that may stop Krypto from completely overshadowing Superman. Because dogs have a different type of skin than humans, they can't reap the benefits of sunlight as easily. This is evident in the way they handle their vitamin D intake. Humans can get it by exposing their skin directly to sunlight, but dogs have to get theirs from food because their skin simply can't do the same.

Maintaining a sufficient level of Vitamin D is, of course, a far cry from wielding the universe's mightiest set of superpowers. Both Superman and Krypto are also sun-powered aliens, so their ability to absorb the sun's radiation obviously has key differences to Earth humans and dogs. However, since Krypto still has very Earth canine-like fur and skin, it might theoretically hinder his ability to gain strength from sunlight just enough to keep his power level below Superman's. There's no word yet how James Gunn's "Superman" plans to handle the duo's respective powers, but should Krypto somehow perceive Superman as an enemy or simply get the zoomies, the Man of Steel will have his hands full.