Viggo Mortensen definitely not Zod in Superman: Man of Steel

While Zack Snyder is busy promoting Sucker Punch , it seems that everyone's more interested in asking him about Superman: Man of Steel .

He's not giving much away, but in a chat with Latino Review he did confirm, sadly, that Viggo Mortensen would not be in the movie, saying: "Yeah, Viggo is not going to be in the movie, let's say that right now, I can clear that up."

It doesn't rule out the character of General Zod, but it's a shame Viggo won't be involved, as he could have been a formidable adversary for Supes.

The remainder of his answers were nowhere near so definitive. When asked if the film would feature Kryptonian mythology, Snyder responded: "I can't say because it gives too much away, but it's safe to say that we have a great respect for the character."

On the topic of strong female characters in the movie, Snyder responded "I can't say of course. I wish I could straighten it out for you at this moment but I can't really."

Unsurprisingly, Snyder's response when asked if Man of Steel would be '[Lex] Luthor-less' was: "I can't answer that."

So far, Superman: Man of Steel has Henry Cavill cast in the title role, and Diane Lane and Kevin Costner have been confirmed as Ma and Pa Kent.

Sucker Punch is set for release on 1 April 2011, while Superman: Man of Steel is tentatively pencilled in for December 2012.

Matt Maytum
Editor, Total Film

I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.