Michael Shannon has recently offered his advice to any actor who would take up the role of General Zod after him in the new DCU. The actor portrayed the role of the villainous Kryptonian military leader, General Zod in 2013’s Man of Steel, directed by Zack Snyder. Shannon faced off against Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent, aka Superman, in the superhero film.
Michael Shannon wants DCU’s General Zod to be different from Man of Steel
Following DC’s soft reboot, Michael Shannon has come forward to share a piece of advice for the actor who will carry forward the legacy of playing General Zod on the big screen.
Shannon was recently present for a conversation with Screen Rant, where he shared how he went in to portray General Zod in Man of Steel. He referred to the portrayal of Zod by Terence Stamp in the 1978 movie Superman, alongside Christopher Reeve. Moreover, Shannon told the outlet that what Stamp “did was very different from what I did. It’s kind of like Shakespeare. There can be a lot of different Hamlets, and there can be a lot of different Zods.”
The actor asserted that he tried to make the Man of Steel version of Zod his own, based on the writing of the movie. Additionally, Shannon shared advice for any actor who would be cast as General Zod in the future and said, “It’s not my property. It’s literally not my property. So, make it your own. That’s always the best thing to do.”
Apart from Man of Steel, Michael Shannon got the chance to play Zod again in the 2023 movie, The Flash. However, while speaking to Collider in a 2023 interview, the actor stated, “It wasn’t quite satisfying for me, as an actor. It’s not quite the in-depth character study situation that I honestly felt Man of Steel was.”