Move Over, Paw Patrol
The Flash: “How did you turn Ace into Bat-Hound?”
Texts From Superheroes
Batman: “Same way I became Batman, training, hard work and a bat costume.”
Flash: “Huh. Do you know how Krypto got his powers?”
Batman: “Same way as Superman, he came from Krypton in a rocket.”
Flash: “Great, I know what to do.”
Batman: “Barry, do not douse your dog in chemicals and hit it with lightning!”
Flash: “But I get lonely on long runs!”
There are countless pets on Earth. Cats and dogs are used for everything from search and rescue to helping people with medical issues. So is it any surprise that some animals get superpowers, costumes, and go out to kick some ass? Yeah, it kinda is. But with superheroes, weird stuff like that happens.
Animals have become superheroes ranging from Comet the Superhorse to Rex the Wonder Dog and even Speed Steer: The Gristle Missile. These are the 5 greatest Superhero Pets.
Our only criteria is not allowing anthropomorphic animals. So don’t expect Spider-Ham, Howard the Duck, or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Scene Select
#5 Superhero Pet: Chewie
Species: Cat/Flerken
Owner: Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel: “Get the Skrulls in the quadjet and go! Take the Flerken with you!“
Captain Marvel
Nick Fury: “What about you?“
Captain Marvel: “I’ll buy you some time.“
Nick Fury: [picks up Goose, very nervously] “I’m picking you up now. I’m trusting you not to eat me.“
Chewie is an orange tabby belonging to Captain Marvel, who named her after Star Wars’ Chewbacca. During an encounter with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Rocket Racoon revealed Chewie was actually a Flerken, a dangerous alien that greatly resembles cats. He then tried to kill Chewie before she could spawn more Flerkens.
Chewie responded to his attack by opening her mouth and unleashing a Lovecraftian mass of tentacles and teeth to attack the heavily armed space critter. Chewie escaped from the fracas and laid eggs, which hatched into over one hundred more Flerkens. Captain Marvel convinced Rocket to stop hunting Chewie and brought the Flerkens to a rescue center to be adopted.
Goose is Chewie’s name in 2019’s Captain Marvel so that producers can tie into the Top Gun references the film loves making. It’s unknown if she’s a normal Earth cat or a Flerken. A safe bet is that she will get an action scene regardless.
#4 Ace the Bat-Hound
Species: German Shepherd
Owner: Batman
The Joker: “Adios, Brucie. I suppose I should salute you as a worthy adversary and all that, but the truth is I really did hate your guts. [turns to Terry] How about you, kid? Any last words for the old Bat-coot?”
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
Batman: “Yeah. Sic ‘im!” [Ace arrives on cue and attacks the Joker]
Inspired by Krypto the Superdog and Rin-Tin-Tin, Ace The Bat-Hound is one of the strangest members of Batman’s team.
Bruce Wayne first encountered Ace when counterfeiters kidnapped his owner. Bruce posted missing dog flyers before realizing Ace could track his owner by scent. To keep the dog from being recognized and linked to him, Batman outfitted Ace with a mask and a high tech collar. Thus, Bat-Hound was born!
Batman and Bat-Hound saved the owner, who decided that Ace should live with Batman. Bats trained Ace so that the normal dog could take down tigers, supervillains, and use several of Batman’s gadgets. Ace made his TV debut in Batman Beyond, with growls and barks done by Scooby Doo’s Frank Welker. Frank voiced Scooby’s pal Fred but had originally auditioned to play Scooby Doo so he finally got to play a heroic dog thanks to Ace.
#3 Superhero Pet: Lockheed
Species: Alien Dragon
Owner: Shadowcat
Lockheed: “The one person on Earth I called friend is gone… and I couldn’t save her.”
Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #1
Lockheed is a cat-sized purple dragon from outer space. While flying through space with his species, The Flock, Lockheed was separated and stranded on a planet infested by hostile aliens called The Brood.
While on the planet, Lockheed encountered a human woman being attacked by The Brood and saved her. The woman was an X-Men member called Shadowcat. She gave him the name Lockheed and brought him back to Earth with her. Lockheed has since become an X-Man, joined British superteam Excalibur, and become an agent of the S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff SWORD.
Lockheed may be small, but he’s still a freaking dragon. He can fly, breathe fire, has empathic abilities, and can speak more languages than the X-Men’s resident super-genius, The Beast. Lockheed is scheduled to appear in 2019’s New Mutants.
#2 Dex-Starr
Species: British Shorthair cat
Owner: Atrocitus
Dex-Starr: [curled up to his former owners skull] “I find one who hurt you. I kill. [starts crying] I good kitty.”
Green Lantern: Brightest Day
Dexter of Earth was a normal (albeit blue-furred) cat and the planet’s most tragic superhero pet. He was adopted by a poor, young woman and settled into a happy life with her until she was murdered by someone robbing their home.
Dexter was chased from his home by cops, who feared he would contaminate the crime scene. A pair of psychos grabbed Dexter, shoved him in a bag, and tossed him off a bridge to watch him drown. Dexter’s pain and hatred summoned a Red Ring of Rage, transforming him into the Red Lantern, Dex-Starr.
The newly potent kitty dedicated his life to hunting down the bastard who killed his owner. He soon encountered the Red Lantern leader, Atrocitus. The pair hit it off and Dex-Starr became his pet. They also became the deadliest members of the Red Lantern Corps.
Dex-Starr has rarely appeared outside of comics. His two claims to fame are fighting alongside Atrocitus in Injustice 2 and appearing in two episodes of Justice League Action. If the Red Lanterns appear in the Green Lantern Corps sequel, Dex-Starr is virtually guaranteed to appear.
#1 Superhero Pet: Krypto the Superdog
Species: Kryptonian Dog
Owner: Superman
[Superboy is fighting one of his descendants]
All-Star Superman
Kal Kent: “I’m faster! Stronger! Able to leap from world to world in a single bound! Your solar powers are in their infancy! You’re not as strong, as smart, or as fast as you will be…“
Superboy:Oh, yeah? [Krypto tackles Kal at high speed] But I have my dog!
The greatest superhero pet is the original: Krypto the Superdog.
We all know that Jor-El shot his son Kal-El to Earth to save him from Krypton’s destruction. As proof of concept, he built another rocket and shot the family dog Krypto into space. Side note, if he had time to build two rockets, why didn’t he build a bigger rocket and go to Earth with his kid? Friggin’ Kryptonian deadbeat.
The first rocket was knocked off course and arrived on Earth when Superman was a teenager. Being Kryptonian, he developed all of Superman’s powers. Good thing he was already house-trained. Superman rarely brings Krypto on missions because he remains as intelligent as a dog.
Krypto is a good dog, but a ferocious opponent capable of tearing a villain’s throats out. Which he has done. More than once. Don’t screw with Krypto.
Krypto the Superdog is the only pet superhero to get his own show. This version of Krypto could talk and was voiced by Samuel Vincent. He frequently teamed up with other super-pets, including Ace, Streaky the Supercat, and a team of alien super-dogs called the Dog Star Patrol.
What Superhero Pet would you adopt? Tell us in a comment.
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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