Exclusive: The Flash Movie Features A Top-Tier Superman Villain
We've exclusively learned that The Flash will see a major Superman villain on screen.
Update: This Giant Freakin Robot exclusive was confirmed, and Michael Shannon’s General Zod did appear in The Flash.
Ezra Miller finally has his own solo outing in The Flash, a movie where he’s being joined by a new supergirl played by Sasha Calle and stars like Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck. The story will follow the Flashpoint story from the comics, which means that time travel will be involved. Ultimately, Flash himself is his own antagonist in that story, as he comes to grips with some of his own mistakes playing with the Multiverse. But ultimately, what’s a great comic book film without a legendary villain? Thanks to some work from one of our trusted and proven inside sources, we have exclusively learned that General Zod is in The Flash.
General Zod is often considered to be one of Superman’s best villains. He is up there with the likes of Lex Luthor and Brainiac, and he isn’t new to the DC Extended Universe. Michael Shannon brought the character to life in both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. While it would make sense to assume that Michael Shannon is playing the character again now in The Flash, our source was unable to confirm the actor playing the role. We also don’t yet know how large of a role General Zod has. He’s a top-tier Superman villain, so he makes sense as the major villain for the story. However, all we know is that he’s in the movie.
Like Superman himself, the General Zod we see in the DC Extended Universe is Kryptonian. We saw him resurrected in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice after his death in Man of Steel, so apparently, it’s fair to assume that he can always make his way back on screen. Of course, in that movie, he was resurrected using Lex Luthor’s blood, which turned him into Doomsday. This leaves a lot of room to speculate on how The Flash will incorporate General Zod. Will he be played by a new actor entirely? Will he have undergone another transformation?
One of the fun things about Superhero movies, via DC or Marvel, is that anyone can come back at any time in any way. And with The Flash exploring time travel and the Multiverse, and using both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck as Batman, it makes it entirely plausible that General Zod could be an earlier version played by Michael Shannon or introduced as an entirely new character, even one with a new backstory.
Michael Shannon has a great way of playing grumpy characters, which made him a natural fit for an angry military villain from an alien planet. Bringing him back for The Flash as General Zod is going to add even more ties to the DC Extended Universe for the movie, which is shaping up to look like a major turning point for DC after Zack Snyder’s exit. Hopefully, General Zod will get a fresh motive that helps him live up to the hype around this movie and the legend of his character in video games, comics, animated series, and the movies we’ve seen so far.
