THE FLASH Star Michael Shannon Explains General Zod's Return And Says It's Only A Minor Role

THE FLASH Star Michael Shannon Explains General Zod's Return And Says It's Only A Minor Role

Man of Steel star Michael Shannon has addressed his return as General Zod in The Flash, revealing that his role is a relatively minor one while admitting the Multiverse concept initially confused him...

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By JoshWilding - Mar 09, 2023 06:03 AM EST
Filed Under: The Flash
Source: Looper

The Flash will follow Barry Allen as he travels back in time in an effort to save his mother's life. However, after getting trapped in 2013, the Scarlet Speedster will discover that he's created a new reality...right in time for General Zod's invasion of Earth.

Yes, it appears the movie will retell the events of Man of Steel, albeit with Supergirl taking Superman's place. That was likely part of Warner Bros.' pre-DC Studios plan to replace Henry Cavill with Sasha Calle, but with the new DCU on the horizon, it's probably now just a simple Multiverse tale. 

Talking to Looper, Michael Shannon addressed his return as Zod in The Flash and admitted to being confused when he got the call to play the iconic Superman villain again.

"I said, 'As memory serves me, I think I died in 'Man of Steel.' Are they sure they got the right guy?' But then they explained to me the whole multiverse phenomenon, which...I was a little behind the times on that. I loved making 'Man of Steel,' and I love working with [director] Zack [Snyder], and I felt like it was actually, in a way, a fairly important film."

"It was nice to revisit the character. I wasn't there for a terribly long time," Shannon continued. "I was in and out in a couple of weeks, so it was a nice way to spend a bit of my summer in England. Andy's a lovely guy and a great artist, visually, and I had a blast."

The actor was pushed for details on playing Zod again and, while he wasn't willing to give much away, he reiterated that his role is a relatively minor one in the grand scheme of the movie. 

"I tried to get back into his skin. He's a little different in this film," Shannon teases. "You don't spend as much time with him, so you don't really get to know as much about what he's thinking. It's not necessarily his movie. That's the thing with these multiverse movies — you get a little bit of this and a little bit of that."

Based on what we know about The Flash, Zod is just going to show up for the movie's final battle giving the Fastest Man Alive, Supergirl, and Michael Keaton's Batman someone to fight. It's a shame his role will likely be little more than an extended cameo, but that doesn't lessen our excitement to see Shannon suit up again. 

The Flash is set to arrive in theaters on June 16. 

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ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/9/2023, 6:24 AM
All these actors confused about their role in these multiverse movies, lol. I love it.
None of them know wtf is going on.
EarlChai
EarlChai - 3/9/2023, 7:59 AM
@ObserverIO - Right? I remember similar comments with the 2009 Star Trek reboot, with Abrams telling actors something like “look, no one understands this.”

But I mean, it’s not that difficult of a concept. We’ve had the same idea in pop culture since at least It’s a Wonderful Life.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/9/2023, 8:20 AM
@EarlChai - The Flash basically is the same concept as It’s a Wonderful Life, I suppose. Except instead of look how bad the world would be if you weren't alive, it's look how bad the world would be if your mother was alive. Like a reverse-Wonderful Life, lol.

They should call it 'The Flash or It's Only A Wonderful Life If Your Mother Is Murdered and Your Father Goes to Jail For It'.

But I guess that's kind of a mouthful.
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 3/9/2023, 8:32 AM
@ObserverIO - Why would they? This is an easy paycheck for them; nothing more.
TheLight
TheLight - 3/9/2023, 6:27 AM
How much does anyone want to bet what took Superman tremendous effort is going to be child's play for Supergirl? Just as another kick to the balls to Henry?

I have a very cautious feeling about this.
Jacory
Jacory - 3/9/2023, 6:31 AM
@TheLight - while I loved the fight, it didn't look like Zod was too difficult for Superman to defeat, at least to me.
Conquistador
Conquistador - 3/9/2023, 6:31 AM
@TheLight - And we're probably going to get another faceless Superman cameo as it's been reported that they cut the cameo Cavill shot so as not to lead back to the Snyderverse.

urgh, well let's see how it looks, i think it will be good none the less...would be better if they have a scene at the end where Ezra's Barry gets replaced!
philinterrupted
philinterrupted - 3/9/2023, 6:47 AM
@TheLight - you know these are scripted stories right? Cavill didn’t really fight Zod. So, if a character in another movie has an easier time it’s not a commentary on how powerful Cavill is or isn’t.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 3/9/2023, 6:52 AM
@TheLight - I'll take that bet for internet bragging rights, since I kinda expect Dark Flash to be the one to kill Zod
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/9/2023, 8:28 AM
@TheLight - She's less powerful because she's been locked up unnderground her whole life. That's why she needs the help of an old man and two Ezra Miller's to take down Zod.

Wonder if they'll do the neck snap but with Ezra this time...?
RedFury
RedFury - 3/9/2023, 6:30 AM
Shannon seems like a cool down to earth dude. I love that he seems to just say whatever he wants, and that it always comes across as genuine, but also aloof lol.
Origame
Origame - 3/9/2023, 6:31 AM
Makes sense. Multiverse is a tough concept for a lot of people to understand. I know several people who couldn't get into everything everywhere all at once because it completely confused them.

That's probably why no way home was the most well received of these multiverse movies. It broke the concept down to its most simplistic. Like "hey you know these different versions of Spiderman? Well they're all teaming up. How? Multiverse"
Vigor
Vigor - 3/9/2023, 6:40 AM
@Origame - agreed. Some people dislike no way home, saying it relies ok nostalgia. And I'm here like well yes. It used nostalgia in the best way possible. It took well known versions of this character from a whole different studio (at the time) and threw them into thr MCU. That's the easiest way to understand variants and multiverse concept
TheVengeance
TheVengeance - 3/9/2023, 7:54 AM
@Origame - it’s also pretty goofy in concept
Origame
Origame - 3/9/2023, 7:59 AM
@TheVengeance - not really. It's an actual scientific theory (or more specifically a scientific proposal).
TheVengeance
TheVengeance - 3/9/2023, 9:07 AM
@Origame - theory isn’t proof. And it can still be goofy. Compared to cold hard, in front of your eyes reality. And when the same person in different iterations of a multiverse concept Bruce Wayne or Peter Parker wouldn’t look like 3 different actors. It would look like the same exact person
Origame
Origame - 3/9/2023, 9:43 AM
@TheVengeance - ...I'm not saying it's proof.

It's an expansion to explain the cat in the box. Is it alive or dead? Until we open the box, the cat is both alive and dead.

How does that make sense? Well some scientists have come up with the many worlds interpretation. Our universe broke into two where one universe the cat is alive and the other it's dead. We just don't know which one until we look in the box.

From this we can infer every possibility actually exists in its own universe.
Conquistador
Conquistador - 3/9/2023, 6:32 AM
Shannon always keeping it real. Hell of an actor as his Zod was decent.

Just watched Vanilla Sky the other day and did not realise he has a small part there. He's been around for a while! loved his bit part in Bad Boys 2 aswell!
tmp3
tmp3 - 3/9/2023, 6:38 AM
@UniqNo - i love vanilla sky because tom cruise says he listens to radiohead lol, he’s just like me. underrated film though, some really great visuals
ProfessorWhy
ProfessorWhy - 3/9/2023, 7:41 AM
@UniqNo - he was in groundhog day!
tmp3
tmp3 - 3/9/2023, 6:39 AM
love shannon’s screen presence. gonna assume he’s the second-act heavy before dark flash (?) shows up in the last act played by america’s favorite felon
JonAwesome
JonAwesome - 3/9/2023, 6:46 AM
What did Cavill do that was so bad to completely change the trajectory of your DC universe? I mean they must have really hated him to [frick] off with Superman!
Conquistador
Conquistador - 3/9/2023, 6:57 AM
@JonAwesome - I'd say less to do with Cavill, and more to do with Snyder's vision. If really want to blame someone, blame Christopher Nolan, haha but the fanboy's won't dare touch him...even though he's the one who technically hired Snyder for the job.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 3/9/2023, 6:48 AM
Ofcourse Shannon was only there for a few weeks, because the good actor he is got everything right on the first take
Forthas
Forthas - 3/9/2023, 7:38 AM
"...and I felt like it was actually, in a way, a fairly important film."

It should have been an important film, but unfortunately it was produced by Warner Brothers. So like the Dark Knight Trilogy, it was a huge wasted opportunity and only continues to showcase what a crap show the DC film universe has been and continues to be since the days following Man of Steel.
TheVengeance
TheVengeance - 3/9/2023, 7:52 AM
@Forthas - TDK Trilogy wasn’t a wasted opportunity bruh
ninerstreet
ninerstreet - 3/9/2023, 8:13 AM
@Forthas - While I completely agree with you on the DC live action film universe being a complete shit show, I don’t think people realize just what an accomplishment the Marvel Cinematic Universe really is. We’ve become so accustomed to it that we assume every studio should be able to do it. Also I’m old enough to remember when a photo realistic Spider-Man movie was just a dream. Sitting around reading comics in high school with my friends talking about “How great would it be if there were an Avengers movie!?” “Imagine seeing the helicarrier and the quinjets!” We’ve gotten not only those but friggin Moon Knight, and Werewolf by Night! My point is sure maybe not all issues er episodes are the best but we should be thankful we have the MCU.
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