Michael Shannon Offers Advice To The Next General Zod Actor Who"ll Replace Him In James Gunn"s DCU

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Actor Michael Shannon brought a menacing gravitas to the Kryptonian General Dru-Zod in 2013"s Man of Steel, cementing himself as one of the more memorable villains in the DC Extended Universe. Now, years later, Shannon, Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, and most of the other DCEU stars are being replaced with new iterations. This is the result of James Gunn and Peter Safran taking the reins at DC Studios and establishing a new DC Universe, which kicks off next year with Gunn"s Superman. Though he is not slated to appear in that film, Zod"s recasting is inevitable as one of the most iconic Superman antagonists.
For his part, Shannon isn"t particularly upset. In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, the star unpacked his mindset behind making Man of Steel as well as any advice he may have for the next General Zod. Of his approach to playing the villain, Shannon explained, "When I was doing Man of Steel, I didn"t really look at it as a big blockbuster; I just looked at the story in the situation."
However, he stated how the next Zod performer shouldn"t emulate his portrayal, as "so much of it is connected to the writing." Shannon elaborated:

"What Terence 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. It"s not my property. It"s literally not my property. So, make it your own. That"s always the best thing to do."

He further stated that he didn"t think of Zod as "some supervillain or something" but rather he "just thought of Zod as an individual who"s trying to do their job" and "trying to protect his people." According to Shannon, this is a commonality among his roles. He added: "When I look back, to a certain extent, I played a lot of characters that are just trying to protect their people." Another actor may take a different approach to Zod"s motivation.
What Michael Shannon's General Zod Comments Mean Close Shannon"s advice makes total sense. General Zod is a role that can pass on from actor to actor in a similar manner to Superman, Lois Lane, Batman, and other DC heroes. It"s possible to interpret him the way Shannon did—as a survivor protecting his own—or the way Terrence Stamp did—as a cold, power-hungry egoist. Moreover, he is correct in saying that the story should define how the actor portrays the character.

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