Warner Bros, believing no one does anything but sit in front of their laptops on a Sunday afternoon, made an official casting announcement today.
Michael Shannon is General Zod.
Shannon, you may remember, was rumored to be in the running as of late last month. Of all the names circling, he was my least favorite. I like Shannon, but it’s just so damn easy to cast him as a villain.
I have no doubt Shannon will knock it out of the park, though I wonder if he can dial back that stuffed-a-corpse-in-a-mattress vibe that he’s using to the hilt on Boardwalk Empire. Zod needs to be cold, commanding, and imperious, though I’m certainly open to a new interpretation. That’s half the reason I dig this choice of villain.
And hey, look at that. The villain is confirmed, despite all lame attempts to convince us it wasn’t Zod, or fans who insisted it was all Internet invented hype. It’s Zod! Accept it. Come to terms with it.
Oh, and I almost forgot: Superman is now officially titled Man of Steel. Not Superman: Man of Steel. Just Man of Steel.