The Flash Movie: Michael Shannon Breaks Silence on General Zod’s Return

Michael Keaton’s Batman isn’t the only familiar face returning to the DC universe in The Flash. DC dropped the first Flash trailer during the Super Bowl, revealing speedster Barry Allen’s (Ezra Miller) race through time to save his ill-fated parents (Maribel Verdú and Ron Livingston). But when Barry runs into his younger self (also played by Miller) in the past, he realizes he inadvertently created a world without metahumans — leaving this alternate universe vulnerable to an invasion from the Kryptonians General Zod (Michael Shannon) and Sub-commander Faora-Ul (Antje Traue), supervillains thwarted by Superman (Henry Cavill) in Barry’s home reality.

“I was a little confused. I said, ‘As memory serves me, I think I died in Man of Steel. Are they sure they got the right guy?’” Shannon told Looper about reprising his role from the 2013 film that launched the DC Extended Universe. “But then they explained to me the whole multiverse phenomenon, which … I was a little behind the times on that.”

Admitting that he’s not “a huge consumer” of the comic book genre, Shannon added, “Not that I have anything against them. If I’m going to watch a movie, the odds are it’s not going to be one of those, but I sure love making them.”

“I loved making Man of Steel, and I love working with [director] Zack [Snyder], and I felt like it was actually, in a way, a fairly important film,” Shannon continued. “It was nice to revisit the character. I wasn’t there for a terribly long time. I was in and out in a couple of weeks, so it was a nice way to spend a bit of my summer in England. [The Flash director Andy Muschietti’s] a lovely guy and a great artist, visually, and I had a blast.”

In another twist on Man of Steel, it’s Kara Zor-El — a.k.a. Supergirl (Sasha Calle) — who opposes Zod’s invasion of Earth, joining forces with the Flash, his 2013 counterpart, and the retired Batman.

DC describes The Flash: “Worlds collide in The Flash when Barry uses his superpowers totravel back in time in order to change the events of the past. But whenhis attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barrybecomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned,threatening annihilation, and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. Thatis, unless Barry can coax a very different Batman out of retirement andrescue an imprisoned Kryptonian… albeit not the one he’s looking for.Ultimately, to save the world that he is in and return to the futurethat he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. But willmaking the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe?”

Starring Ezra Miller, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston,Maribel Verdú, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue, Ben Affleck, and MichaelKeaton, The Flash races into theaters June 16th.