'Krypton' Lex Luthor Easter Egg Doesn't Mean What You Think it Means

When Adam Strange time-travels in an attempt to help Seg-El fight off Brianac in the debut episode of SyFy’s Krypton, he brings Superman’s cape with him from the future. But that’s not the only artifact Strange carries referencing the world of the Man of Steel. He also has a pack of Luthorello’s cigarettes. This means on Strange’s Earth, Lex Luthor owns a tobacco company. So, does this easter egg mean Lex Luthor will appear later this season on Krypton? Showrunner Cameron Welsh says probably not.

Spoilers head for the first episode of Krypton on SyFy.

On Wednesday, the pilot episode of Krypton introduced the basic premise of the show: young Seg-El, an outcast Kryptonian learns that his grandson will become Superman at some point in the future. Between hearing that Seg’s girlfriend has the last name “Zod” (as in “kneel before Zod!”) and seeing two versions of a red Superman cape out of context; fans will be excused if they didn’t catch this blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment. But, make no mistake, when a pack of innocuous cigarettes falls out of Adam Strange’s hoodie, there’s pretty cool reference.

Let’s look at the scene again up-close. It happens toward the end of the episode when Seg and Strange are getting down to business.

Yep, it’s a pack of cigarettes that looks like the design of Marlboros, but instead, carry the brand-name “Lutherello’s.” Was this a reference to Lex Luthor? Showrunner of Krypton, Cameron Welsh says yes, but don’t get your hopes.

“Yes, there was something there that we were sort of playing around with. I remember when we were sort of coming up with that, we were having a bit of fun with it,” he told Inverse. “There’s nothing really deeper than that, to be honest, in terms of Lex. He’s not a character that we’re looking at, not at this moment anyway.”

Cameron Welsh seems like an honest guy, so for now, we’re going to take him at his word. The Lex Luthor-branded cigarettes carried by Adam Strange are just an inside joke, and nothing more.

But, because this series deals with time travel, and the possibility of rewriting Superman’s backstory, then the person who would love to erase Kal-El from existence the most would probably be his greatest nemesis: Lex Luthor.

But, for now, we’ll have to settle for Brainiac.

Krypton airs on SyFy on Wednesday nights at 10 pm eastern time, after the The Magicians.