Being one of the most popular Superman villains, General Zod has been given many labels over the years. From intimidating and powerful to an antagonist and a supervillain, he’s been viewed in various lights. But never had the Krypton warrior been associated with Satan until a fan outright told Michael Shannon that his character resembled the devil himself.
Sure, Zod is one of the most powerful adversaries to go against Superman and his place of origin isn’t Earth either. But to view him in the same light as Satan seemed like a bit of a stretch to Shannon as he pointed out the xenophobic nature of the fan’s comment with regard to the same.
Michael Shannon Was Upset When General Zod Got Compared to Satan
In an old interview about his role in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, Michael Shannon was asked to shed light upon the “weirdest” encounter he’d had with regard to the film. And the most peculiar conversation he engaged in was with a woman who roped in General Zod’s character to be just as wicked as Satan.
“Yeah, I did have an interview…but she wasn’t, like, a fan,” the 48-year-old recalled. “She was in LA, a woman from, like the Christian network or something. She’s like, ‘So, Zod is basically like Satan. So, you played Satan.’ And I said, ‘No, I played General Zod.'”
Despite Shannon explaining it to her, the woman kept pushing the idea of Zod being “evil” which, in her eyes, ultimately rendered him no better than Satan. And that quite conspicuously got on the George & Tammy star’s nerves, especially since he portrayed the character on screen.
Michael Shannon is Intolerant of Xenophobia
While talking about the fan’s comment on the formidable combatant of Krypton being as evil as the devil, Shannon defended Zod by claiming that his being from another planet doesn’t automatically stamp him as “evil.”
“Like, well it’s a matter of perspective, you know. He’s not an earthling, he’s from another planet. So, that makes him evil? So, people from other planets are evil? What is that, xenophobia?”
Perhaps he was more ticked off by the fact that at the end of the day, even Superman is originally from the planet of Krypton, just like Zod. But while the former’s character gets showered with praise, the latter gets dragged through the mud. At the same time though, one is a superhero while the other is clearly a villain. Still, associating Shannon’s character with Satan was probably not the best way to go about it.
Man of Steel can be streamed on Netflix.
Source: Empire Magazine via YouTube
