The Official Michael Shannon IS General Zod - Part 3

[Changeling]

Its so disappointing that Zod is the villain in this movie. It should have been Brainiac

[G.Godfrey]

I thought so too when the announcement was made but then I started thinking and realized what great potential General Zod has as a villain and how that potential was never really explored. Not even in the post-crisis comics really. Because it usually follows the Donner ´´Your dad was my jailer so I hate you and I'll enslave/destroy your planet because of it, now kneel before Zod!`` way of portraying him which is quite sad. Of course, MOS might not turn out any better but Im hopping it will and Shannons comments on the character give me confidence in that regard.

But to be perfectly honest what really made me ´´forgive`` the inclusion of Zod was the casting itself. It helps when you have one of the worlds best character actors in the movie, especially one who is capable of being as intense as Shannon.

I think I even prefer Zod as the villain in the origin, compared to Brainiac. Especially since there seems to be more to it than Zod and Faora themselves (Black Zero spaceship, Robot army...) But knowing Goyer, Brainiac still might be part of the story somehow. Though I hope not. I want the entire focus on Zod.

[hopefuldreamer]

Couldn't agree more. When i first heard it'd be Zod i hated the idea. But the more we've learned about the role and with Shannon playing him (who i didnt know at the time but have since seen a few of his roles and am now very excited about him), the whole idea of the dynamic just seems potentially incredible.

Besides, i'm not the biggest brainiac fan. I'm open to the possibility of an interpretation changing my mind, but i just don't get why people love him so much.

[Rust]

I also hoped for Brainiac, but realized fairly quick that Zod was the way to go given the whole origin-thing and especially thinking in the bigger (trilogy)-picture where the inclusion of Brainiac in the first movie would've left little room for a villain build-up with the sequels.

[Smallville13]

Yeah. I was somewhat annoyed when they announced Zod as the villain as well only cause I thought they were distancing themselves as far from the Donnerverse as possible. But I've since come full circle. Michael Shannon is just mesmerizing in Boardwalk Empire. He just directs all your attention and steals scenes.

Plus I think it makes perfect sense to start with a villain tied to Krypton and his homeworld for an origin story. It's a bit too convenient for a world that's being portrayed as much like ours to suddenly have 2 different races (Kryptonian (Superman), and [Insert any other villain here] (Darkseid, Mongul)) just show up at once and start duking it out.

I wonder if there's anything implied in the movie that Krypton AI runs on Brainiac tech or something. I wonder how their tech will look too. With the Neo-Medieval aesthetic look we've seen to the film so far I wonder if they go for an Asguard type Science/magic approach. Where their advanced technology is just on a higher level entirely then HUD and Tron-like interfaces. And more bio-organic?

[747]

I've loved the choice of Zod as the villain from the beginning.

[Rust]

I really hope there'll be a nod to Brainiac in the Krypton-scenes. A subtle but definitive nod that ties him into Zod's history, Krypton's demise and Supes' future setting up the sequel.

[The Shield]

Originally Posted by 747

I've loved the choice of Zod as the villain from the beginning.

As have I. Especially because it's a villain that was written by the men that brought us the Joker and Bane. And this badie has superpowers?? Yes, Very much looking forward to it.

Originally Posted by Rust

I really hope there'll be a nod to Brainiac in the Krypton-scenes. A subtle but definitive nod that ties him into Zod's history, Krypton's demise and Supes' future setting up the sequel.

I'm ordering the same meal sir. This Movie is like a seafood gumbo. There is so much I want and I want it to taste like the best bowl I've ever had.

[Rowsdower!]

I hated the choice of Zod from day one and I'm still not wild about it. However, Michael Shannon is awesome, so I'm sure that he'll make Zod amazing, even though I've never found him to be that interesting of a character to begin with.

[superhero#1]

Some People didn't like them using zod again because they thought we was getting the same zod from the Donnerverse.Cheesy, one dimensional, Lacking depth.And OMG that ugly disco outfit for an alien being.We never got to know who zod was.They painted him as an evil criminal from the beginning and nothing about his military status.You jor-el son, I wanna kill you and that's my only purpose.That sum up the Donnerverse zod perfectly.When people think of zod, they think of the Donnerverse zod which was not a good verson what so ever.Mos zod won't be nothing like that.Check out this interview from Michael Shannon from last year.

Speaking with MTV, Shannon reveals he will not try to copy the classic Zod of the Donner films, and also stated that Zod is the leader of the entire military of Krypton!

"I'm not going to impersonate Terence Stamp. I'm not going to have a British accent or anything," Shannon told MTV "All I can say is it's very well written and there's a lot of great opportunities to reinvent it for myself. The challenge is for me to do that. There's nothing holding me back. I think they're counting on me to give my interpretation. I'll do the best I can."

"Being a general," said Shannon. "To me, that's a fascinating, iconoclastic character. I can't imagine being a sergeant, let alone a general. He's in charge of the entire military of Krypton. That's going to take every little shred of imagination that I have. It's a good challenge because it's a big distance to have to go."

"I'm reading Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs. I'm reading those, trying to see what it's like to wake up everyday in those shoes," he said.
"For me, (Zod) is a very complex character," Shannon continues. "He doesn't have horns coming out of his head; he's not breathing fire. He's a citizen of a different civilization. He's from another planet. That's a lot to wrap my head around. And he's a general too. I've done a lot of military-themed work, but I've never been higher than a sergeant, so it's quite a promotion."

[superhero#1]

Originally Posted by Rowsdower!

I hated the choice of Zod from day one and I'm still not wild about it. However, Michael Shannon is awesome, so I'm sure that he'll make Zod amazing, even though I've never found him to be that interesting of a character to begin with.

Many many people say the same thing about superman.They just look at the Donnerverse and think that's all it is to superman and zod.Also Shannon acting is not what going to make zod awesome , it's the script and direction which the Donnerverse lacked.

[Lead Cenobite]

Originally Posted by superhero#1

Some People didn't like them using zod again because they thought we was getting the same zod from the Donnerverse.Cheesy, one dimensional, Lacking depth.And OMG that ugly disco outfit for an alien being.We never got to know who zod was.They painted him as an evil criminal from the beginning and nothing about his military status.You jor-el son, I wanna kill you and that's my only purpose.That sum up the Donnerverse zod perfectly.When people think of zod, they think of the Donnerverse zod which was not a good verson what so ever.Mos zod won't be nothing like that.

Why are you people so damn judgemental when it comes to the Donner movies, expecting Nolan-style so-called depth when you're fine with relatively straightforward villains everywhere else? Is Palpatine multi-layered? No, he's not some tortured figure who has a little good in him and has good intentions. He's just a classic "one dimensional" villain. Nothing wrong with that. Some people are just *******s who are greedy and don't give a crap about anyone but themselves. Quit holding that against Stamp's Zod, there are plenty of classic villains who are like that.

[The Shield]

I honestly don't know where people get the whole campy thing in the first place when speaking of Stamp's Zod. Lex was campy and so was the rest of his corny little entourage. If people Actually Watch his performance you'll see that he was one of the more serious characters in the movie. A 1978 movie made about a comic book character.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...eHxfF3o#t=181s

[terry78]

'Tis the curse of reboots. Everything that came before it that we loved suddenly sucks.

[Lead Cenobite]

Exactly. Everyone's all like "sayonara Burton, Donner, Raimi, we have art films now."

[The Shield]

Those films built the foundation. If it weren't for those we would not have what we've been given with this new style of superhero movie. I'm thankful for those movies and I loved them... well maybe not SM3 and part of the first Spiderman.

[Rowsdower!]

Originally Posted by superhero#1

Many many people say the same thing about superman.They just look at the Donnerverse and think that's all it is to superman and zod.Also Shannon acting is not what going to make zod awesome , it's the script and direction which the Donnerverse lacked.

It's not quite the same thing. We've had a multitude of interpretations of Superman on film and in comics to provide a much broader sense of the character and for those of us who have seen those films and TV shows and read those comics, we know that he is an interesting character when written well.

Zod is a bit different, however, because it wasn't until recently that they fleshed him out a bit more in the comics and made him less one-dimensional. For a very long time, he was at best a minor character in the comics in comparison to villains like Lex, Brainiac, Bizarro, etc. I think DC didn't know what to do with him because they would periodically reintroduce him in one weird way or another and then just kill the idea after a few issues.

Now, you're right in that the script and the direction need to be strong--and honestly, even though I'm not the hugest fan of Donner's Zod, I think the script and the direction there were strong too, even if there wasn't all that much to his character--but you also need the right actor to pull off the role. If an actor just phones in a performance, that makes his character forgettable. However, I don't think we have to worry about that when it comes to Shannon.

[superhero#1]

I just think the direction they took with zod was weak.It's much more to zod then that.Like shannon said, He doesn't have horns coming out of his head he's not breathing fire.That's how the donner film had him.He was completely evil.He shouldn't be like that.I don't think you'll be seeing zod tryna kill superman right off the bat in this movie.

[godisawesome]

Yes, the donner film had Zod as one dimensional character, but it still made him a compelling enough villain that he basically usurped the mantle of Pahntom Zone Big Bad from Jax-Ur. Stamp's portrayal wasn't really campy, though the direction given in his scenes did come off as awkward. And like Hackman, Stamp made sure he brought charisma to the role, and that's what made any part of Superman II stand out; I always liked how they established that Luthor had good reason to fear these pajama wearing yahoos, and remember that in the first film, Luthor was far from a joke-his henchmen were, but he wasn't.

The comics have also shown an inability to make Zod nearly as cool as either Smallville or Superman II made him. They couldn't decide if he was just insane, overly militaristic, blatantly speciest, driven by revenge or misguided love for his people, and as a result, we had something like 5 different General Zods in a ten year period, with the best arguably being either the reverse-Superman Russian guy or the carbon copy of the one from Superman II.

Smallville had the best Zod so far in my opinion. He's ruthless, clearly shows that he once had a heart and honor, but is also so proud and arrogant that he winds up being basically Khan to Clark's Kirk. You hate his guts, know that he's got less depth than Lex, but also know he's exactly as evil. And that's important; Zod must be as dangerous to Earth as either Lex or Brainiac are, but he must have a radically different personality and relationship to Superman to make it work.

Shannon's Zod has a good chance to be a clear, incredibly different interpretation of the character, and it seems quite likely he'll be very forthright threat to us, but he might still have some mercy for the son of Jor-El as a fellow Kryptonian, and it seems very likely he'll be sincere in any offer of partnership or declaration of war, and I like that. I like that a good Zod has a clearly anatgonistic relationship with Clark that lack's the jealousy dimension of Lex's hatred.

[DaJanksta]

Originally Posted by godisawesome

Yes, the donner film had Zod as one dimensional character, but it still made him a compelling enough villain that he basically usurped the mantle of Pahntom Zone Big Bad from Jax-Ur. Stamp's portrayal wasn't really campy, though the direction given in his scenes did come off as awkward. And like Hackman, Stamp made sure he brought charisma to the role, and that's what made any part of Superman II stand out; I always liked how they established that Luthor had good reason to fear these pajama wearing yahoos, and remember that in the first film, Luthor was far from a joke-his henchmen were, but he wasn't.

The comics have also shown an inability to make Zod nearly as cool as either Smallville or Superman II made him. They couldn't decide if he was just insane, overly militaristic, blatantly speciest, driven by revenge or misguided love for his people, and as a result, we had something like 5 different General Zods in a ten year period, with the best arguably being either the reverse-Superman Russian guy or the carbon copy of the one from Superman II.

Smallville had the best Zod so far in my opinion. He's ruthless, clearly shows that he once had a heart and honor, but is also so proud and arrogant that he winds up being basically Khan to Clark's Kirk. You hate his guts, know that he's got less depth than Lex, but also know he's exactly as evil. And that's important; Zod must be as dangerous to Earth as either Lex or Brainiac are, but he must have a radically different personality and relationship to Superman to make it work.

Shannon's Zod has a good chance to be a clear, incredibly different interpretation of the character, and it seems quite likely he'll be very forthright threat to us, but he might still have some mercy for the son of Jor-El as a fellow Kryptonian, and it seems very likely he'll be sincere in any offer of partnership or declaration of war, and I like that. I like that a good Zod has a clearly anatgonistic relationship with Clark that lack's the jealousy dimension of Lex's hatred.

I agree that their relationship should be unique. I would like to see a bond, because they are both from the same place, both men, but at the end Superman's home is Earth and he cannot allow Zod to do whatever it is he has planned. At the end I would like to see the death of Zod and maybe look into his eyes as he feels betrayed by his last brother. Or enemy. Or something very emotional lol.

[Rust]

That'd be a good angle. Also, Zod knew Jor-El so Clark will probably want to know about his father and will show somewhat interest in Zod before Zod reveals his intentions.

[NewYorkSpider]

Originally Posted by Changeling

Its so disappointing that Zod is the villain in this movie. It should have been Brainiac

I'm not that upset about Zod in a movie. I'm just want to see an epic fight between the two.

[Zionite1]

I was more than pissed that Zod was the viallian in the movie.Howver Ive mellowed out for the Following Reasons.

-It looks like it will be very different Zod than Donner Zod.
-Rumours that Zod will have an Armor in Battle,and Rumours Faora will have a Lightsabre in Battle means that the Battles will be a lot more than Superman fighting People with the same Powers as himself.
-Zod brings a Robot army with him.If theres one thing that neva gets old Its superman vs Robots

[Rust]

Here's 3 more reasons:

1. Michael Shannon
2. An emphasis on the shared kryptonian history within a bigger mythology.
3. Michael Shannon

[Gianakin_]

Lightsaber?