Rumors abounded that Zach Snyder‘s Superman would feature General Zod, the Kryptonian political prisoner who languished for years in the Phantom Zone, a sort of extra-dimensional Kryptonian Château d’If that was by its very nature untouched by Krypton’s destruction, before escaping and attempting to conquer Earth. I guess because if you get out of prison and suddenly gain all the powers of Superman to aid in your world conquering ways, you stick around to take over the nearest planet bathed in the light of a yellow star before you start looking for more.
Anyway, right, rumors. There was even a pernicious rumor that Viggo Mortensen was in talks to play Zod, but the official word has come down from Snyder himself: The movie is Man of Steel, the villain is Zod, and he will be played by Michael Shannon.
While Shannon’s film pedigree is sparse, he’s probably best known for a supporting role in Revolutionary Road (for which he was nominated for five or six awards) and as a regular on Boardwalk Empire. He also played the role of Doc Cross Williams in Jonah Hex, which takes place int the DC universe around one hundred years before the time of Superman, so who knows what kind of continuity issues that will bring up.
(None. It will bring up none.)
(via Pajiba.)
