Ever since its release in 2013, Man of Steel has been a divisive movie. One moment from the film that still divides fans is the infamous scene where, in order to save a group of civilians, Superman kills General Zod by snapping his neck. Some argue the Last Son of Krypton should never kill, whereas others believe Superman made the right call. As it turns out, Michael Shannon -- Zod's actor -- falls into the latter camp.
While appearing on Cinema Blend's ReelBlend podcast, Shannon was asked if he though Zod's death at Superman's hands was needless. "No, I didn't think there was any other way to end it, really," the actor replied. "I mean, Zod says it's either me or you. I'm not gonna let you survive. I will kill you, unless you kill me. And that seemed sufficiently Greek to me, you know?"
After discussing his preoccupation with the scene being filmed at Union Station -- which resides in Chicago, one of the cities in which he grew up -- Shannon explained that the other reason he was fine with Zod being killed was that he is usually obligated to the script, thus he rarely asks for alterations to be made.
"I've seen other actors that feel more comfortable kind of going in and screwing around with the script and the story," Shannon stated. "But I've never felt real comfortable with that unless there's something that's just glaringly nonsensical. I kinda keep my mouth shut, because I'm not a writer. I can't write a screenplay to save my life. So I have a lot of respect for the script and, and I only go off it if I'm encouraged to by the director."
Directed by Zack Snyder, Man of Steel was the first entry in the DC Extended Universe, and would be followed up in 2016 by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The DCEU is still continuing, with the next installment by this year's Wonder Woman 1984, which opens August 14.