'Man Of Steel': Superman Movie Renamed, Michael Shannon Cast As Villain General Zod

The new Superman movie has its name, and its bad guy.

Warner Brothers announced on Sunday that the film, now officially titled "Man of Steel," will feature Michael Shannon as the evil General Zod. He'll face off against Henry Cavill, the franchise's new Superman.

While Zod has a number of story lines, he was the fascist head of the military on Krypton, Superman's home planet. He was portrayed by Terrence Stamp in the first and second Christopher Reeves Superman films, acting as the main villain in the second film.

“Zod is not only one of Superman’s most formidable enemies, but one of the most significant because he has insights into Superman that others don’t. Michael is a powerful actor who can project both the intelligence and the malice of the character, making him perfect for the role," the film's director, Zack Snyder, said in a statement.

Shannon, star of "Boardwalk Empire" and an Academy Award nominee for his turn in "Revolutionary Road," joins an already star-studded cast in Snyder's film reboot of the beloved comic book. Amy Adams was recently cast as Lois Lane, while Diane Lane and Kevin Costner will play Martha and Pa Kent.

Snyder spoke about his vision for the film in March, giving a just a few hints to the Los Angeles Times.

"Literally, the one thing that everyone can start to think about is that we're making a movie that finally goes with the approach that there's been no other Superman movies," Snyder told the paper. "If you look at 'Batman Begins,' there's that structure: there's the canon that we know about and respect, but on other hand there's this approach that pre-supposes that there haven't been any other movies. In every aspect of design and of story, the whole thing is very much from that perspective of 'Respect the canon but don't be a slave to the movies.'"

Here's the press release from Warner Brothers:

BURBANK, CA, April 10, 2011 – Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures announced today that Michael Shannon will star in the role of General Zod in director Zack Snyder’s new Superman film, titled “Man of Steel.”

Snyder stated, “Zod is not only one of Superman’s most formidable enemies, but one of the most significant because he has insights into Superman that others don’t. Michael is a powerful actor who can project both the intelligence and the malice of the character, making him perfect for the role.”

As General Zod, Shannon will go toe-to-toe with Henry Cavill, who plays the new Clark Kent/Superman in the film. The main cast also includes Amy Adams as Lois Lane, and Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as Martha and Jonathan Kent.

Michael Shannon was honored with an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Sam Mendes’ “Revolutionary Road,” with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Shannon was most recently seen in the award-winning HBO drama series “Boardwalk Empire,” from executive producer Martin Scorsese. He will next be seen in Sony Pictures Classics', "Take Shelter," from director/writer Jeff Nichols.

Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder are the producers of the film. The screenplay is being written by David S. Goyer based on a story by Goyer and Nolan. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers.

“Man of Steel” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Comments

[leathrpaws]

09:27 PM on 05/18/2011

glad that MaxDS points out that Christopher's last name was Reeve, not Reeves. The write must have mixed him up with George Reeves, who played on the 50's Superman TV series.

[MaxDS]

01:05 PM on 05/01/2011

Personally, I just wish they would just stop re-booting Super Hero movies and just start making episodes. Christopher Reeve was so far (in my opinion), the best Superman. All his movies are still available for those that wish to see how Superman got to Earth, or just watch Smallville for a different twist involving his growing years. If they want to make a new "current" Superman, have him deal with the issues in Iran, Iraq, Libya or even the Earthquake in Japan. I'm almost 45 years old and I've seen his "Arrival" 3 times on TV/Movies already as well as in the comics. We do not need a "re-boot" with every new director or writer.

[K Dubbl U]

10:21 AM on 04/14/2011

Three million Smallville fans WONT go see this movie.

[shylove2]

07:46 PM on 04/13/2011

Yep, we just love to have a superman who is omniscent he always knows the bad guy and bring hin=m in and need noproof or evidence and just give us a benevolent authoriatrian solution to all our problems in life... we ssem to think we are teh world's super-man but we are casuing more pboelme than we solve and can't evern solve our own... all the simplistic good and evil stories are imaginary realities...

[Glenn Snead]

02:28 PM on 04/29/2011

Take a deep breath. Now, say it with me: "It's just a comic book."

[khalibrrr]

06:11 PM on 04/13/2011

When will this one be out? 2020? I'll pass.

[khalibrrr]

06:05 PM on 04/13/2011

I'm tired of these whack Superman movies! I don't need to be re-introduced to the character. What I need is some ACTION! Zod is cool but....really? That's the best you could do? If they're going for the whole Krypton connection There's Brainiac. Hello? I don't want to see Zod again. I want something never seen before. Marvel is so much better at bringing there comic book characters to life. Sure, there have been some misses but Marvel never stops long enough for you to get fixated on that bad movie. They're too busy prepping you for the next big thing for you to even have time to dwell on the not so great comic book movies they've made. AND THEY DON'T WAIT 10 YEARS to bring you the next installment. The best thing D.C. has is Batman. Period. They better hope Green Latern doesn't suck. I won't be going to see this crap. I'll wait to be disappointed when it hits netflix. I'm done with superman.

[WillWeremecki]

11:20 PM on 04/12/2011

Very interesting choice for Villain. I really hope that this reboot of the Superman Franchise does get it's foot in the door and stick around for a while, even if just for a few movies like Nolan's Batman franchise. Can't wait to check it out.

[MrTreize]

09:36 PM on 04/12/2011

While I understand the need for familiarity when making certain types of movie genres, this movie is destined to help destroy this movie franchise. What I am talking about is how they pick villains, stories, etc. The Superman series has been ongoing for more than 50 years and yuo mean to tell me that in 50 years he has only defended Metropolis and Earth from Lex Luthor and General Zod? I am all about tyring to make a buck but come on, surely there is another villain in the Superman rogues gallery that can be put on the silver screen? Also, why write a whole new story (or re-visit in this movies case) when you have 50+ years of stories to choose from? Just saying, if they think this movie is gonna get the huge box office they are expecting like a batman flick, they may be mistaken.

[Jason Mozak]

02:16 PM on 04/13/2011

Actually, they have over 70 years of Superman canon from which to delve, and there isn't anyone more closely associated with Superman than Lex Luthor. He's the arch-nemesis every iconic superhero has, if they're lucky enough to become ingrained in pop culture. He's the Joker to Batman, and anything OTHER than him would be cheating the audience of the greatest rivalry he's held in almost 3/4 a century. If there's anyone else that comes a close second, it's gonna have to be Zod, based more on the previous movies' impact, than on the comics.

[Conor Matthews]

07:19 PM on 04/12/2011

What Hollywood doesn't (fully) realise about recent interest in Superhero movies is that a major factor is the deconstruction movement, that took place mainly in the 80s in comics and has now returned. We have an interest in the human side of these gods, of these massive, powerful beings of grace and glory. That is why the Nolan Batman series; it raises questions, doubts, emotions, feelings, moral delimas. Spiderman did that (until the third installment). And films like Kick Ass and the upcoming Super (starring (my favourite actress) Ellen page) bring human needs and desires to the forefront. Superman is this massive, glorious, just being that embodies the American (and even the human) spirit.... you can't expect us not to want to see him question himself, face his flaws, struggle with being an outcast. I fear that if Hollywood doesn't realise this in time, we'll have to deal with a crying Superman once were done and want more Greek Mythology styled movies.

[dr-steve-pesyk]

06:30 PM on 04/12/2011

Just a note on the original-syndicated TV Superman's soundtrack of the 1950‘s. The Superman TV theme was officially credited by ASCAP to a “Leon Klatzin”, who could not have possibly actually written the theme, since he was a mail boy in the mail room at the time the show aired. In fact in a 1990's interview, Mr. Klatzin could not remember the key it was written in, nor where he got the idea, nor where it was even recorded. Mr. Klatzin however did other work in the late 50's and 60's - writing TV music - for which he "remembered" those details very well in the same interview. Most likely, due to musician union rules - which forbade a performance to be ‘separated’ from its music and be added later – the only exception was music recorded outside of the United States, which then could be united later to its optical material. So the backtrack music for the first three years of TV’s Superman was largely taken from 1940’s B-movies - and there was a ‘4-note’ cue in that wealth of ‘used music’ which seems to be the inspiration for the theme. The music for TV was written both ‘anonymously’ and ‘fast’ in those days – and to get around the “U.S. rule” – the theme was probably composed/scored in the U.S., then recorded in either Paris or Mexico City – or even quite possibly secretly in NYC – in order to get around those messy ‘union rules’ then.

[PhineasGage730]

05:01 PM on 04/12/2011

“Zod is not only one of Superman’s most formidable enemies, but one of the most significant because he has insights into Superman that others don’t...

Lies... Zod is cool, but no way is he on of the Man of Steels "most formidable enemies."

This is always the problem with these remakes. They take the que from the movies instead of reaching into the many great story lines the graphic novel has.

Oh well... In a few years they'll remake it again. In the end they will always make money because we go and see ANYTHING.

[IbrahimSapien]

03:19 PM on 04/12/2011

Christopher Nolan relied heavily on the works of Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb via "The Long Halloween" to create his highly successful Batman trilogy. The folks behind Superman might want to try that approach again with the same duo's work on Superman. In any case, Superman has a wealth of villains and story-lines to pick from, why replay this tired thing with General Zod? Why not Brainiac?

[Curt F]

12:55 PM on 04/12/2011

Awesome Actor in Boardwalk Empire!

[jesthefaxman]

12:47 PM on 04/12/2011

Did his dad play Jaws in the James Bond films?

[OC4Obama4Pres]

02:15 PM on 04/12/2011

That was Richard Kiel, I think.

[gposner29]

12:06 PM on 04/12/2011

No originality...no creativity....just fix it even if it isn't broken...Are there ANY writers left out there?