Test audiences rescue Krypto the Superdog from getting punched

Dog lovers may want to exercise a bit of caution as there’s apparently a scene where Angela Spica (María Gabriela de Faría) isn’t the nicest to Krypto, but in an interview with Jake’s Takes (via ScreenRant), the actors revealed that it could have been much worse. “They cut Ultraman punching Krypto because, apparently, it did really bad in the test screening,” Sara Sampaio, who plays Eve Teschmacher, revealed. Apparently she and Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luthor) were “a little pissed about it,” so they may be on a PETA watch list somewhere. 

De Faría’s inclusion on that list is marginal. “It’s not okay. You can’t punch a dog,” she said, before quickly amending: “No, I did not punch the dog. The dog attacked me first.”

Of course, no actual dogs were harmed—in cut scenes or otherwise—in the making of the film. “I had to find a tennis ball and be really, really scared of the tennis ball,” de Faría said of Krypto’s stunt double, joking that she’d never be able to play tennis again without seeing little Superdogs flying everywhere. He may have been knocked down, but it seems like Krypto got the last bark. You can watch Superman‘s punch-free theatrical cut in theaters July 11.