Michael Shannon Hesitated to Reprise Zod in ‘The Flash’ Because He ‘Wasn’t Happy’ About Zack Snyder’s DC Exit: ‘He Gave Me His Blessing’

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Michael Shannon revealed on the “Bingeworthy” podcast that he was hesitant to reprise the role of his “Man of Steel” villain General Zod in “The Flash” due to Zack Snyder’s contentious exit from Warner Bros. Snyder directed Shannon as Zod in the 2013 Superman movie, which launched Snyder’s DC Universe. The director expanded his universe with “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Justice League,” but the latter was overtaken by the studio once Snyder left in post-production because of a family tragedy. Joss Whedon was brought in for reshoots and overhauled Snyder’s darker tone.

“I was hesitant [to come back] because I wasn’t really happy about what happened to Zack Snyder in that whole deal,” Shannon said. “And I really love Zack. The fact that Zack asked me to play that part to begin with — that’s probably the biggest surprise of my career. It almost felt like a practical joke. I was like, ‘You’re kidding me, right?’”

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“I talked to [‘The Flash’ director] Andy Muschietti about it, and I liked Andy, and I said, ‘Andy, look — I just want to get Zack’s blessing on this because it just doesn’t feel right without that,’” Shannon continued. “And Zack, to his credit, was very understanding. He gave me his blessing, and I went to do it. I loved Andy, too. I loved working with Andy. They’re both super creative guys. Andy’s an amazing artist. He would just make these drawings when I was sitting there talking to him. I’d look over and say, ‘Hey, can I keep that?’ and he’d go, ‘Sure!’ and sign it and give it to me.”

Shannon admitted in a recent interview with Looper that he was confused when he was first asked to return as General Zod considering his character was killed in “Man of Steel.” Because “The Flash” opens up the DC multiverse, it allowed a different iteration of Zod to return.

“But, you know, it’s just really different — these kind of multiverse situations,” Shannon said on the “Bingeworthy” podcast. “The story is a lot more all over the place, you know? And I feel like I mainly exist in ‘The Flash’ as, like, an obstacle or a problem. Whereas, in ‘Man of Steel,’ it was more of a story. Like, ‘The Flash’ is definitely about The Flash – as it should be. So, it’s not as in-depth.”

“The Flash” premiered to enthusiastic reactions at CinemaCon ahead of its June 16 theatrical release.

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