Age: 51
male
Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor, producer, musician, and theatre director. He has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in the Sam Mendes period drama Revolutionary Road (2008) and the Tom Ford psychological thriller Nocturnal Animals (2016). He earned Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for his role in 99 Homes (2014), and a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for the Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night (2016). Shannon made his film debut in 1993 with Groundhog Day and received widespread attention for his performance in 8 Mile (2002). He is known for his on-screen versatility, performing in both comedies and dramas such as Pearl Harbor (2001), Bad Boys II (2003), Bug (2006), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), The Iceman (2012), Premium Rush (2012), The Night Before (2015), The Shape of Water (2017) and Knives Out (2019). He played Superman's Kryptonian adversary General Zod in Man of Steel (2013) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and is set to reprise the role in The Flash (2022). Shannon is a frequent collaborator of Jeff Nichols, appearing in all of his films: Shotgun Stories (2007), Take Shelter (2011), Mud (2012), Midnight Special, and Loving (both 2016). He is also known for his role as Nelson Van Alden in the HBO period drama series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014), for which he was nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2021, he had a main role in the Hulu drama miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers.
Michael Shannon
General Zod
for General Zod in Man of Steel(2008)
Suggested by maxmazzotti
Similar to the original film, but with changes. Notably Superman saving people more frequently, less heavy destruction, and a more hopeful outlook on the film. Honestly, I think the script could be very similar to what we got with some changes to make it more endearing. For starters, both of the Kents are more supportive of Clark. Pa Kent is still the more protective of the two, but he is less harsh than the Snyder version and both Jonathan and Martha live. I think the Kryptonians can be reduced to Zod, Faora, and Nam-Ek, to mirror the Phantom Zone trio of the Donner films. Because of that, the collateral damage is much smaller in scale. I’d also like to change the setting of the final battle to the agricultural portion of Smallville, that way civilian damage is much smaller. I would also inject a scene during Clark’s school days where he uses his X-Ray vision to see that his teacher has a brain tumor. How does he do this? He compares her brain to that of the other adults and notices it. We use that scene as a reference, so when he is fighting the other Kryptonians, he basically pulls the same move from Superman vs the Elite. He sees the difference in Kryptonian brains and human brains and severs their connection, rendering them powerless (at least by the end of this film). The film would end with Superman taking the Kryptonian criminals to the authorities and helping Smallville rebuild. Then, we get the shot of Superman moving to Metropolis to join the Daily Planet to work with Lois, who he still built a connection with over the course of this film. There is a post credits scene of a Parademon returning to Apokolips and reporting his discovery of Superman to Darkseid, who replies, "Very well."
