The Official Michael Shannon IS General Zod - Part 1

[HighFivingMF]

But we're talking NOLAN here...!

 

[Hurm...]

Seeing Nolan's name in virtually every thread...


is somewhat annoying to me.

 

[Mr. Thing]

Yes, great post. This reminds me of what Drew McWeeny wrote about months ago, about Zod:



http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/what-do-we-know-about-zack-snyders-superman-so-far

Maybe Superman's loyalties are torn in this movie.

This is why Zod could work so well!

 

[Superman2007]

Yes, great post. This reminds me of what Drew McWeeny wrote about months ago, about Zod:



http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/what-do-we-know-about-zack-snyders-superman-so-far

Maybe Superman's loyalties are torn in this movie.

Very possible...

What we could have is Clark traveling the world, finally deciding to become Superman, winning praise and just as things start to look good...Zod shows up(with a Kryptonian army) with desires to just take over and destroy. Meanwhile Lex is developing a pr campaign against all things Kryptonian. Superman is stuck in the middle, trying to defend himself, from attacks coming from both sides...Could be some uber-compelling storytelling.

 

[The Shield]

Oh please, the whole "people who don't like Gerneral Zod as their villain of choice just lack the imagination to see that something different can be done with him than what they did in Superman II" argument is just beyond lame. OF COURSE it's possible to go a different route with Zod. But it would also be possible to do something new and original with the Nuclear Man. That still dosn't mean it would be a good idea, though.

And it's not like people act like the movie is gonna suck now, just because they went with Zod again. Lots of folks simply think there are other characters out there that would've offered alot more potential for a fresh take on the Man of Steel. Cause no matter how you look at it, if you have Zod in your movie you practicually have to draw inspiration from the Donner version. And you know why? Because that's what defined the character they're adapting. Before Superman II there was nothing of significance he ever did in the comics. And the only kryptonian Zod that has appeared after is the recently introduced version, which is an adaption of the freakin' movie version.

So please people, stop acting like Zod is a villain that has played a big role in the comics and other adaptions for the last 50 years and just happend to have been used for a movie once, 30 years ago, when he's not. The Zod we know is the character that has appeared in Superman II and that's the character they're adapting. If they portray him in a completely different manner, it's not Zod. And unlike Pre-Superman II, the character now has an iconic profile, which you can't just completely throw over board without making him something he's not. It's just not like with the Joker, where the source material offers a character that's rich enough to be adapted in very different ways while still being true to what defines him.

You missed what I was getting at completely. I referred to nothing at all of what you said here...

 

[Orin]

Yes, great post. This reminds me of what Drew McWeeny wrote about months ago, about Zod:



http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/what-do-we-know-about-zack-snyders-superman-so-far

Maybe Superman's loyalties are torn in this movie.

Well, that's pretty much the New Krypton storyline from the Comics, which didn't work out all that well. In fact, people were dropping the Superman books faster than a speeding bullet.

 

[KalMart]

Zod?

 

[HighFivingMF]

Well, that's pretty much the New Krypton storyline from the Comics, which didn't work out all that well. In fact, people were dropping the Superman books faster than a speeding bullet.

That's not why.

 

[terry78]

Seeing Nolan's name in virtually every thread...


is somewhat annoying to me.

You hadn't gotten the memo that Nolan had recently been appointed to the title of Jesus Christ? The alpha and the omega? The beginning and the end?

 

[Willi Berg]

Well, that's pretty much the New Krypton storyline from the Comics, which didn't work out all that well. In fact, people were dropping the Superman books faster than a speeding bullet.

You're right that Zod in those comics was based a lot on people's memories of him in Superman II.

What could be different from those New Krypton comics is that the drama will be more Earth-centric. Those storylines spent a lot of time following Kal-El working on New Krypton, which did become tedious at times.

But in this movie, it's could be about using Zod to explore other angles, like the idea of a Superman on Earth, since Superman looks to be introduced to the world in this movie. And at the same time there are other "alien threats".

But I do think there will be another villain/alien to provide more of the action.

 

[TX85]

I think some people may be overestimating Nolan here cause he's just a producer while Snyder is the director!,I agree he has tons of potential to make this Superman beyond awesome than done before and Nolan will be involved.....But Snyder has said before a few years ago that he wasn't really a Superman fan and so perhaps he's using Zod cause he enjoyed SupermanII!?and may indeed be taking Stamp's performance as a template!?

 

[Hurm...]

You hadn't gotten the memo that Nolan had recently been appointed to the title of Jesus Christ? The alpha and the omega? The beginning and the end?

I burned the memo.

 

[KalMart]

 

[DorkyFresh]

I think some people may be overestimating Nolan here cause he's just a producer while Snyder is the director!,I agree he has tons of potential to make this Superman beyond awesome than done before and Nolan will be involved.....But Snyder has said before a few years ago that he wasn't really a Superman fan and so perhaps he's using Zod cause he enjoyed SupermanII!?and may indeed be taking Stamp's performance as a template!?

he didn't say he wasn't a Superman fan...he said he wouldn't know how to go about making a new film. that was until Goyer started writing the script. btw, you know Goyer is writing the script right? it's not Snyder who chose Zod, it was Goyer...

 

[Willi Berg]

What we could have is Clark traveling the world, finally deciding to become Superman, winning praise and just as things start to look good...Zod shows up(with a Kryptonian army) with desires to just take over and destroy. Meanwhile Lex is developing a pr campaign against all things Kryptonian. Superman is stuck in the middle, trying to defend himself, from attacks coming from both sides...Could be some uber-compelling storytelling.

I wonder how "gung ho" we will see Zod in this movie. Is he going to arrive guns blazing ready to attack with an army like that? Or will he be alone? Or with Ursa and Non? Is he going to be a straight out villain from the get-go?

 

[Dark Knight]

Okay, here are my two cents on Zod in The Man of Steel (It's not called Man of Steel, right? I'd prefer to add the "The" and even Superman to the title).
When news broke out that Zod was official; it caught me by surprise because, like many, I thought Brainiac was going to be in the film. I still go back to the first news of this reboot that mentioned Luthor/Brainiac. But after I thought about it, I realized something: Zod is still a great idea that many people are either not thinking of or overlooking.

Because they are looking at the comics as the source material for this film (unlike the others), anytime I think of Zod, its either not just or never-ever, Stamp's version, it's the comics, and there are good reasons. The recent comics, even including Byrne's reboot, have featured great stories or moments of General Zod that I think about the most than Stamp's version: Byrne's Pocket Universe Zod, I never read Our Worlds at War but there's that version of Zod (known as Russian Zod), For Tomorrow's Zod; and there is the current Zod by Geoff Johns, to which, yeah, he is based partly on Donner's version, but he is his own character that the notion of that isn't on your mind. And that version of Zod, in stories like Last Son and New Krypton, were either great or had good moments. Plus, in terms of other media, if we look at the recent stuff from Smallville such as Season 9, that version of Zod was pretty cool too. And no one thought about Stamp's version, except for the line "Kneel before Zod". With that in mind, even though he is an old villain being used, it's not bad because of all of these show what a great character he is.

Plus, another factor that I have to bring up is that this isn't Synder's film, it's mainly Nolan and Goyer's Superman film that Synder is directing. It's his ideas that glued with their ideas that led to Synder being hired for the job. Now, I'm not bringing Nolan up because of his track record; because we're talking about villains, Nolan and Goyer can juggle villains than it seems no else can. Look at their Batman films; Batman Begins had seven villains, Dark Knight had three, and Dark Knight Rises seems to be going from 3-4 villains but there might be more. Different from the previous film series where the villains took over those films, right? So, the reason why I'm bringing this up is because, well, Zod may not be the only villain, right?

It seems painfully obvious that Lex Luthor will be in the film, but what-if there is a third or fourth villain that is goign to be in this film? Synder made a joke saying "there might be a character that people would call Superman", people said he was joking but then again he said Zod was just a rumor, right? What-if he wasn't? What-if that mention of what might be Bizarro really means Bizarro is going to be in the film? And, again from that first article on this film, what-if Brainiac is going to be in the film like the Zod/Brainiac team-up we saw in Smallville? What-if its a mixture of old and new villains for the reboot? Yeah I know, this is all speculation, but with all of this factors behind this film which is all different than before, and for good reason, I don't think they would have just Zod or Zod and Luthor without having someone else to balance it all out. Zod/Luthor? Zod/Brainiac? Luthor/Zod/Brainiac? Luthor/Zod/Brainiac/Bizarro? Speculation, yes, but man I know it can't be just one villain.

Now with what we know about the story thus far; set in the early years featuring a young Superman, a film that makes Superman relevant today. Nolan quoted as saying that the film had a story he "never seen before that makes it incredibly exciting. I wanted to get Emma and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way. A lot of people have approached Superman in a lot of different ways. I only know the way that has worked for us that’s what I know how to do." And added that while he "admired Singer's work on Superman Returns for its connection to Richard Donner's version, but stated that the new film would not have any relationship with the previous film series." Snyder directing, with Nolan having creative input. And of course there's DCE and them knowing how burnt we've been; if I'm wrong and its just Zod or Zod and Luthor; just because Brainiac isn't in it won't make it a bad movie. In fact, it might as well fit the storyline more. I remember alot of people thinking "Birthright" with this film, and with Zod in it, I thought about the scene from that book with the Kryptonian warships and Superman battling them from the ground to the skies and back in Metropolis. On film, wouldn't that be sweet? Nothing is set in stone yet, but if it is just Zod, with the scale Synder can pull off, and a story Nolan and Goyer can pull off; we're still in for a real treat coming in 2012.

I'm not against Zod in it.

Yep Yep!

 

[Hurm...]

I'm thinking about starting a thread on Shannon's calves.

 

[Dark Knight]

Some of you people are like little spoiled brat children....seriously.

You think Chris Nolan came off of The Dark Knight and Inception and decided the best direction for Superman was another rehash of Superman 2? Please....wake the heck up!

Instead of the pie in the sky pieced together all over the place Superman II where the world already loves Superman, a story about Superman overcoming xenophobia, heightened by golden boy Lex Luthor who is vocal against alien threat, only to be reinforced by Zod who comes to Earth like he owns the place. Yes please!

Brainiac comes into play and screws over everyone? Would be even better.

As for all of you not seeing the movie because we were just promised that Superman will fight someone other than a falling plane and a kryptonite continent, you be my guest. Go back and see Superman Returns or something. I'll be at the midnight opening of Man Of Steel!

I cannot wait for Man Of Steel to blow everyone away. It's going to re-establish Superman as top dog in the Superhero business.

 

[Kurosawa]

Well, that's pretty much the New Krypton storyline from the Comics, which didn't work out all that well. In fact, people were dropping the Superman books faster than a speeding bullet.

People dropped the Superman books after that storyline because Superman himself was a total failure in it. That and the General Ross rip off mess with Lois' father, which everyone thinks (rightly so) is lame. If they use a somewhat similar storyline but have Superman triumphant in the end-like in Birthright-then they would get better results.

Imagine that Jor-El's space program, with Lara as the top astronaut and Zor-El as his top assistant, was used by a rogue Zod to kill people on Wegthor, one of Krypton's moons. Then later on the capitol city of Kandor is shrunk and stolen by Brainiac, who may have been alerted to Krypton's presence by Zod. I think all of that could work. That explains why Krypton has a ban on space-travel and no space program, why Zod has it in for Jor-El, who sentenced him and Ursa/Faora to the PZ, and it sets up the storyline of the film and sets up Brainiac for a sequel.

So they could open with the story of Zod and the theft of Kandor, then Krypton's destruction. Zod and company escape the PZ somehow and you play out a Birthright scenario with Zod and Luthor working together to smear Superman. Superman defeats Zod and Luthor with more or less the same ending as Birthright, and then there is a perfect setup for Brainiac to be the main villain of the sequel as he comes to shrink Metropolis. It makes a lot of sense.

Then they can have a sequel with Brainiac and it sets up perfectly for a "Last Days of Krypton" prequel completely fleshing out the Zod/Brainiac/Kandor story, and the series is set up for a Supergirl spinoff as well.

 

[Superman2007]

I wonder how "gung ho" we will see Zod in this movie. Is he going to arrive guns blazing ready to attack with an army like that? Or will he be alone? Or with Ursa and Non? Is he going to be a straight out villain from the get-go?

That would be interesting also...I think they'll drop Non. He seemed too comic-relief based in the earlier films. Maybe, have Zod just witness the worst in humanity(unlike Superman who sees the best) and have him decide he needs to take over because humans are clearly not capable of taking care of planet earth or evolving.

I don't know that might make them too much like Xavier and Magneto...still it would add nuance.

 

[GhostPoet]

I was excited for this movie...till I saw who the villain was. Boring...:/

 

[KalMart]

Some of you people are like little spoiled brat children....seriously.

You think Chris Nolan came off of The Dark Knight and Inception and decided the best direction for Superman was another rehash of Superman 2? Please....wake the heck up!

Instead of the pie in the sky pieced together all over the place Superman II where the world already loves Superman, a story about Superman overcoming xenophobia, heightened by golden boy Lex Luthor who is vocal against alien threat, only to be reinforced by Zod who comes to Earth like he owns the place. Yes please!

Brainiac comes into play and screws over everyone? Would be even better.

As for all of you not seeing the movie because we were just promised that Superman will fight someone other than a falling plane and a kryptonite continent, you be my guest. Go back and see Superman Returns or something. I'll be at the midnight opening of Man Of Steel!

I cannot wait for Man Of Steel to blow everyone away. It's going to re-establish Superman as top dog in the Superhero business.

 

[Willi Berg]

Because they are looking at the comics as the source material for this film (unlike the others), anytime I think of Zod, its either not just or never-ever, Stamp's version, it's the comics, and there are good reasons. The recent comics, even including Byrne's reboot, have featured great stories or moments of General Zod that I think about the most than Stamp's version: Byrne's Pocket Universe Zod, I never read Our Worlds at War but there's that version of Zod (known as Russian Zod), For Tomorrow's Zod; and there is the current Zod by Geoff Johns, to which, yeah, he is based partly on Donner's version, but he is his own character that the notion of that isn't on your mind. And that version of Zod, in stories like Last Son and New Krypton, were either great or had good moments.

Zod in Johns' New Krypton does seem to be inspired by Donner but yes, it does make Zod a deeper character. Even Non was explained better. Their depictions in Superman II aren't that complicated, but Johns took the time to explore their roles on Krypton (and New Krypton) that he did give them more depth. Making him more of a complex character than Stamp's, who seemed to be just taking over Earth for the fun of it. Johns also made differences in Zod, in appearance and personality, that didn't make him just identifiable as Terrence Stamp.

 

[Showtime]

Is it me, or does a the possible storyline we could be getting in Man of Steel sound sort of like what Mike Dougherty wanted to do with a Superman Returns sequel?

Had he gotten the call, the writer (now director; he helmed “Trick R’Treat&#8221 says he would’ve introduced “Other Kryptonians – I’ll be purposely vague about that” into Supes’ world.

These Kryptonians “wouldn’t necessarily be evil right off the bat”, says Dougherty, “That’s too easy and cliché. I don’t think people just show up and they’re evil. In my mind, if the Kryptonians really were a space-faring race – which they obviously were – then it would only make sense that there would’ve been colonies and off-planet missions. So yeah, the possibility of other Kryptonians making their way to Earth seemed like a pretty big one in my mind.

http://www.moviehole.net/201033129-what-would-doughertys-superman-sequel-have-been

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

Don't see the big deal in using Zod personally.