On February 9th, Animal Planet will host its 21st Puppy Bowl. This year, filmmaker and co-head of DC Studios James Gunn will make an appearance to promote his upcoming film, “Superman.” The movie is already one of the most anticipated of the year and will kick off the new Gunn and Peter Safran-led DC cinematic universe.
He will appear with his dog Ozu in tow given that the pup inspired Gunn’s version of Krypto the Superdog. One lucky puppy will even be awarded the “Krypto Super Play” award. The director is also slated to show a sneak preview of “Superman” and deliver a “special message” to viewers.
While this might seem like an odd bit of cross-promotion, it does make some sense. The elephant in the room is that Warner Bros. Discovery owns both DC Studios and Animal Planet. It’s also confirmed that Krypto plays a huge role in “Superman,” as we saw in the teaser. While the Man of Steel will obviously remain the primary focus, it does seem like Gunn has a more animal-centric vision for this adaption.
So this may not just be about the 12.6 million viewers the event pulled in last year. (Or our suspicions that Gunn is looking to hang out with some adoptable animals for the day.)
Puppy Bowl
2025’s Puppy Bowl will feature 142 puppies from 80 shelters. “Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl serves as an annual pop culture programming event that continues to expand in reach, awareness and of course, puppies, every year,” says Howard Lee, chief creative officer of U.S. networks and president of Discovery Networks. “Win or lose, Puppy Bowl XXI will have the cutest players in the game on Sunday, February 9 and will inspire families across the country to adopt a new furry friend.”
You can catch the Puppy Bowl on February 9th at 2pm, with a pre-show staring at 1pm. It will air on Animal Planet, TBS, TruTV, Discovery, Max, and Discovery+. We wish all the players luck in their search for a forever home.
“Superman” is set to hit theaters July 11th, 2025.
