Dog Man - Everything we know about DreamWorks' latest animated superhero comedy adaptation

Dog Man is the latest offering from DreamWorks Animation. The animated film is in the superhero and comedy genre, and it's written and directed by Peter Hastings. It is a spin-off of Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, where there was a subplot revolving around the titular character of Dog Man. It's the second installment of a planned Captain Underpants universe.

The film is about a police officer who, along with his duty dog, gets severely injured. To save his life, the cop goes through surgery, which brings both of them together.

Here's the official synopsis:

"Dog Man, half dog and half man, he is sworn to protect and serve as he doggedly pursues the feline supervillain Petey the Cat."

Dog Man had its premiere at the Festival de l'Alpe d'Huez and was subsequently released theatrically on January 31, 2025, by Universal Pictures. The film has been mostly well-received by critics. After its theatrical run, Dog Man is expected to be available on Peacock for four months. After that, the film will start streaming on Netflix for around ten months.

What is the plot of Dog Man?

The film is about Officer Knight (voiced by Hastings), who arrives at a location to diffuse the bomb with his dog. However, the bomb explodes and injures both of them. Their body is then infused into one another through surgery. This leads to them becoming a human-dog hybrid person called Dog Man. The rest of the story follows him trying to stop the supervillain, who is named Petey the Cat (voiced by Pete Davidson).

Hastings spoke to NBC Insider about making the film. He said that his and David Pilkey's (author of the original comic books it's based on) humor and emotional understanding are similar. He said,

"I really wanted to do it because, for one thing, my personal sensibilities both with doing comedy and with emotional stuff, is very similar to Dave Pilkey's. I'm totally at home working off of his material, so that's really fun. And I think one of the big hooks for me is where Dav goes emotionally with some of these stories that's surprising."

He also revealed that Pilkey trusts the people who are adapting his work.

"He's very much about letting people that he trusts run with it. We kind of built up that trust doing a Captain Underpants television series that he was really happy with. And Dav is very much interested in inspiring other people. Then, he also enjoys seeing what happens, to the point of, [saying], 'I don't want to read it. I don't want to see it.'"

Who is in the cast of Dog Man?

The film features several interesting actors lending their voices for different roles. Hastings, who is the film's writer and director, has voiced the titular character along with Officer Knight and the house of Harold. It doesn't speak much, but there are frequent barks and grows throughout the film. Pete Davidson has voiced Petey, who is an orange cat and the story's antagonist.

Other cast members of the film, according to IMDb, are as follows: