Yes, Daniel Day Lewis really was in talks to play General Zod in Man of Steel.
A rumor claimed that the multi-time Academy Award-winning actor was being "looked at" for a role in Warner Bros.' then untitled Superman reboot back in 2011, and during a recent interview with MTV, director Zack Snyder confirmed that there was some truth to the report.
"Daniel Day-Lewis can play any part he wants. If Daniel Day-Lewis called you up and said, 'I want to be in your movie... want to be Lois Lane.' You'd be, like... 'Yeah, ok," the director joked. "But yes, we did talk. We had hoped that Daniel Day-Lewis would be interested in the movie."
Day-Lewis is known for being very selective about the parts he takes on, so it's not too surprising that he wasn't persuaded by Snyder's pitch. Not a knock on Man of Steel, but the legendary actor has always avoided bigger blockbuster type projects in favor of more grounded dramas.
Of course, Michael Shannon ended up playing Zod, and did a terrific job. While he never reprised the role in the DCEU (the villain's corpse did appear in Batman V Superman), the actor has said on several occasions that he'd love to work with Snyder again.
Day-Lewis, meanwhile, retired from acting after starring in Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread in 2017, dropping the chances of ever seeing him in a comic book movie from slim to none.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.