Michael Shannon Feels Man of Steel Was Deeper than The Flash

Michael Shannon is one of the few lucky actors in the Snyderverse who will have the chance to play his character again in The Flash, the next DC movie that will mean the end of the previous canon of the franchise and a new beginning for the cinematographic universe of the company.

After becoming the main villain of Man of Steel in 2013, delivering a highly acclaimed portrayal of General Zod, Shannon will once again become a major threat to Earth, taking on Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen in Andy Muschietti’s film.

However, it seems that the actor is not as satisfied with the development of the story as he was with the project directed by Zack Snyder, as he confessed in an interview with Collider:

“Yeah. I’m not gonna lie, it wasn’t quite satisfying for me, as an actor. These multiverse movies are like somebody playing with action figures. It’s like, ‘Here’s this person. Here’s that person. And they’re fighting!’ It’s not quite the in-depth character study situation that I honestly felt Man of Steel was. Whether people think that’s crazy or not, I don’t even care. I really felt like Man of Steel was actually a pretty sophisticated story. I feel like The Flash is too, but it’s not Zod’s story. I’m basically there to present a challenge.”

Although his words may seem controversial, the actor has an important point in what he says about his character. It’s true that in The Flash, Zod isn’t actually the true villain, more of a threat that pushes Barry to team up with Michael Keaton’s Batman and Sasha Calle’s Supergirl, before discovering who the real enemy to defeat is.

In Man of Steel, Shannon had the opportunity to explore one of the most important feuds in DC mythology, Zod’s vs Kal-El, giving her character much more depth development.

Who’s General Zod?

The legendary villain first appeared in 1961’s Action Comics #283, created by Robert Bernstein and artist George Papp, as a Kryptonian just like Superman, making him a real contender for DC’s greatest hero.

Introduced under the name of Dru-Zod, he was a wild young man who was rescued by Jor-El and Zor-El, who helped him reintegrate into society while establishing a close friendship with Kal-El’s father. Unfortunately, the relationship did not have a good ending, since during his time in the military Zod ended up devising a plan to give the army more weight in Krypton’s society, but he ends up being imprisoned in the Phantom Zone by his own friend, for which he swears revenge.

Inside his prison, Zod allies with Faora and learns about the Warworld, a powerful machine that can be used to conquer planets and worlds, for which they will also use the fearsome Doomsday, a Kryptonian monster also trapped in the Phantom Zone.

In fact, thanks to Doomsday they manage to escape from their confinement and that is how they end up on Earth, where Zod recognizes Kal-El and plans to destroy his world as a revenge for what his father did to him.