Michael Shannon Defends Man Of Steel's Controversial Zod Death Scene

"Man of Steel" seems like a lifetime ago in the age of James Gunn's burgeoning DC Universe. But it was only just over a decade ago that comic book fans were hotly debating the movie's choice to have Superman kill General Zod. For Michael Shannon, who played the villain, such a moment was what made the movie significant. Evidently, the actor feels that "Man of Steel" was "actually about something" and a film that he remains proud of despite the controversy.

Now that Gunn's charming crowd-pleaser "Superman" has reintroduced the titular hero to the masses, all is right with the world. At least, that's how some fans of the character no doubt feel following the relentlessly lugubrious DC Extended Universe, aka the Snyderverse, which wrapped up with a string of flops in 2023. The ill-fated shared timeline kicked off with a deconstructionist take on Supes in 2013 with "Man of Steel," which saw director Zack Snyder push the Kryptonian to his limits, most notably with a controversial ending that producer Christopher Nolan tried to change to no avail.

During the absolute downer of a denouement, Henry Cavill's Superman is forced to kill General Zod in a tense moment whereby inaction would have resulted in innocent civilians dying. Some saw this as a clever exploration of the limits of superheroism itself, while others wondered what value there was in essentially asking the question "What if fantasy was just ... a fantasy?" Yes, Superman's no-kill rule isn't exactly practical, but this was, after all, a movie about an alien with super-powers, so not everybody flocking to the multiplex was necessarily doing so in search of a naturalistic drama. So, for many, Snyder's attempt at parsing the real-world implications of Superman's powers just didn't land, but Shannon is not one of those people.

Michael Shannon rewatched parts of "Man of Steel" for a Vanity Fair interview, including the scene where Superman snaps Zod's neck. For him, such a moment was an important element of the movie in that it reinforced the ideas and themes propelling Zack Snyder's vision. 

Shannon recalled how his character's threat to kill an innocent family and Superman's decision in the face of that threat lead to some significant controversy. "I guess one of the controversies with this film," he explained, "and Zack [Snyder] engineered this, really, is that Superman is not supposed to kill anybody. So, I put him in a situation where, if he wants to save these people, he has to kill me, and he does. And that obviously led to a lot of Sturm und Drang, or whatever you say." The actor went on to defend the moment, adding:

"I really loved working with Zack [Snyder], and I really loved making this movie. I think a lot of people say, 'Oh, this isn't what he usually does. He just went for the big payday,' or something, but I'm proud of this movie. I think it's actually about something."

That's a perfectly fair take and one that likely embodies Snyder's own view of the movie. The director famously told audiences to "wake the f*** up" during a 2019 talk where he was asked why the Snyderverse Batman kills. Elaborating, Snyder added, "It's a cool point of view to be like, 'My heroes are still innocent. My heroes didn't f****** lie to America. My heroes didn't embezzle money from their corporations. My heroes didn't f****** commit any atrocities.' That's cool. But you're living in a f****** dream world." 

In his Vanity Fair interview, Michael Shannon remarked, "Oh, gosh, I just wish people didn't kill people. Period. I mean, whether or not they're aliens from outer space, or just regular joes." That sounds vaguely similar to Zack Snyder and his "wake the f*** up" speech, which was impressive for the way in which it completely elided the idea that yes, people are living in a fantasy world when they read comics and watch movies — that's sort of the point.

Whatever the case, Shannon's view would be easier to take had Snyder included a "Man of Steel" scene that provided more context for the hero's eventual kill. The never-filmed scene featured Kevin Costner's Jonathan Kent telling a young Clark, "It's a powerful thing to take a life, even if you're forced to take a life." Keeping that thematic focus throughout the film might have helped keep things a little more cohesive, but as it stands, the Superman kill moment not only felt somewhat contrived in its specificity (the family happens to be penned in by a conveniently-placed wall just as Zod unleashes his heat vision) but sort of unnecessary.

At the time, writer and all-round comic book maestro Grant Morrison made their feelings clear, telling USA Today, "I just keep wondering why people insist that this is the sort of thing we'd all do if we were in Superman's place and had to make the tough decision and we'd kill Zod. Would we? Very few of us have ever killed anything." It's that vague sense that Snyder was obsessed with undermining the Superman ideal that continues to irk some fans and adds to the feeling that Henry Cavill was a great Superman who never got a great Superman movie.