As far as Superman stories go, Man of Steel is one of the most ambitious live-action takes on the blue Boy Scout. The 2013 film by Zack Snyder may have a polarizing status these days, but it was made with a lot of heart, and it’s not hard to recognize that. Actor Michael Shannon, who played General Zod, stamps this point by giving his take on playing the villain in The Flash compared to the first Snyderverse film.
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Michael Shannon on General Zod’s Cinematic Journey
In an interview with Collider, Shannon had this to say on his role in this new film, “I’m not gonna lie, it wasn’t quite satisfying for me, as an actor,” and “it’s not quite the in-depth character study that Man of Steel was.” Meanwhile, he praised the Man of Steel version of Zod, stating that it was actually a pretty sophisticated story.
A major concern with recent comic book movies is the way they keep cramming cameos and references, and this hurts the chances of creating a story with personal stakes and a good sequence of progression. The new Flash film from DC is pretty much following that trend. For Michael Shannon playing the villain, it feels like a last-minute decision for a film that went through production hell.
To put things in perspective, Grant Gustin, who plays Barry Allen/The Flash in the TV series, recently stated in an interview for the show’s final season that when the show was just airing its pilot, Ezra Miller was cast as the character for a film. Now, nine seasons later, and the show is finally over, that’s when we are getting a Flash movie.
In many ways, it feels like Warner Bros. had already gone too far to stop production, so they tried to cram as much as they could to appeal to a diverse fanbase. It seems to be working, though, and older audiences are happy to see Michael Keaton back as Batman, Snyderverse fans will be excited for Zod, and Supergirl presents something new and fun for fans of Superman’s overprotective cousin.
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Excitement for the Future
Despite Michael Shannon’s own experiences with this film’s take on Zod, he remains excited. He’s already a huge fan of Ezra Miller’s performance, so that’s another thing to look forward to. His praise for Miller’s Flash is a silver lining for a movie whose main actor is riddled with controversy. If Miller truly brought his A-game, this film might be one of the most ambitious comebacks for something that suffered in production.
As far as the future of the DC universe is concerned, there’s no decisive stand on where things go for Flash after this movie. It seems to be a contained story that doesn’t reference any future films, as far as we know. James Gunn seems more committed to building up a new roster of DC heroes that haven’t had a chance to do much on a big screen. This direction will be a breath of fresh air as comic book audiences grow frustrated with multiversal cameo films.
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