As a multiversal comic book adaptation, The Flash was always going to be packed full of old and new DC faces alike, with the guest stars ranging from recurring favorites to returning veterans, via a jaw-dropping cameo or two.
One of the most high-profile was Michael Shannon’s General Zod, who makes his franchise comeback 10 years after Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, but it doesn’t sound as though he enjoyed himself as much the second time around. While he was fully on board with director Andy Muschietti’s vision, it was the lack of character work that seemed to be the main issue.
When asked by Collider how he felt about returning as a different version of the same character from another timeline, Shannon didn’t hold back in letting his frustrations at the lack of dimensionality be known.
“I’m not gonna lie, it wasn’t quite satisfying for me, as an actor. These multiverse movies are like somebody playing with action figures. It’s like, “Here’s this person. Here’s that person. And they’re fighting!” It’s not quite the in-depth character study situation that I honestly felt Man of Steel was. Whether people think that’s crazy or not, I don’t even care. I really felt like Man of Steel was actually a pretty sophisticated story. I feel like The Flash is too, but it’s not Zod’s story. I’m basically there to present a challenge.”
Shannon is at least capable of coming to terms with the fact he’s essentially window-dressing that only exists to drive the plot forward and provide an obstacle for the heroes to overcome, but he’d have much rather gotten some meatier material to sink his teeth into along the way, it would seem.