Warner Bros. and DC Films' The Flash will see the return of a major villain from 2013's Man of Steel. As reported by DiscussingFilm on Twitter, Warner Bros. announced during CinemaCon 2022 that Michael Shannon will return to the DC Extended Universe as General Zod in The Flash, which stars Ezra Miller as the titular hero.
Shannon last appeared as Zod in 2013's Man of Steel as the main villain who led the coup against Krypton, forcing the planet's leading scientist Jor-El to send his son Kal-El, who would become Clark Kent/Superman (Henry Cavill), to Earth. In a 2020 interview, Shannon spoke about the possibility of his portrayal of Zod returning for Zack Snyder's Justice League.
"I loved doing [Man of Steel]," he said at the time. "It was a special experience. I felt very fortunate that he called me to do it in the first place. So, I haven't heard anything. I don't know. I always tell people I'm dead. Zod's dead, he's dead. Unless you got a defibrillator or something I don't really see it happening." While Shannon will be returning to the DCEU in The Flash, the nature of his role -- and how he will return -- remains unknown.
Muschietti confirmed in October 2021 that filming had officially wrapped on The Flash. Around that time, the director also revealed during DC FanDome in China that the upcoming film will hold its fair share of surprises. "We can tell you there are surprises, we cannot reveal what they are," he said. "But it will probably blow your socks off...The less we talk about it the better. There's excitement behind the cameras about those surprises. You better not know them until you see them on the big screen."
While details surrounding the plot remain scarce, The Flash will deal heavily with the multiverse and explore alternate realities, with Ben Affleck set to reprise his role as the DCEU's Bruce Wayne/Batman for a small cameo, alongside Michael Keaton's Batman from 1989's Batman and 1992's Batman Returns. Miller is expected to portray an evil doppelgänger version of The Flash in the film as well. In a previous interview, Muschietti explained that this storyline will be the foundation for future movies about DC properties.
"This movie is a bit of a hinge in the sense that it presents a story that implies a unified universe where all the cinematic iterations that we've seen before are valid," Muschietti said at the time. "It's inclusive in the sense that it is saying all that you've seen exists, and everything that you will see exists, in the same unified multiverse."
The Flash races into theaters on June 23, 2023.
Source: Twitter