One Krypto-centric scene in James Gunn’s Superman film has been left on the cutting room floor after test audiences reacted badly to the super pooch being attacked.

After Jake’s Takes interviewer Jake Hamilton mentioned an audience response to a Krypto scene involving the Engineer, Eve Teschmacher actor Sara Sampaio said a “worse scene” was cut, revealing that her and Lex Luthor actor Nicholas Hoult were “a little bit pissed” about its exclusion.

“Well, they cut Ultraman punching Krypto,” Sampaio explained of a moment involving the mystery masked villain and the Kryptonian pupper. “Because, apparently, it did really bad in the test screening.”

Engineer actor María Gabriela de Faría chimed in on her scene, “You can’t punch a dog… No, I did not punch the dog. The dog attacked me first.”

This version of Krypto is based on James Gunn’s own dog Ozu, and became a larger factor in the script after Gunn housed the then-destructive rescue dog.

“I remember thinking, ‘Gosh, how difficult would life be if Ozu had superpowers?’ – and thus Krypto came into the script & changed the shape of the story as Ozu was changing my life,” Gunn wrote last year on Instagram.

The first reactions to Superman, starring David Corenswet as the DC icon, have been overwhelmingly positive. The DCU Chapter One opener is followed this summer by Peacemaker season 2, with Supergirl – formerly Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow – hitting cinemas next year.

For more, check out our guide on how to watch DC movies in order and the upcoming DC movies currently in the works.