Michael Shannon talks General Zod

Man Of Steel might still be more than a year away, but that hasn’t stopped the steady drip-feed of information from the production being pored over in microscopic detail by the geek community.

The latest nugget of info comes from star Michael Shannon, who’s dropped a few clues as to what we can expect from his incarnation of General Zod.

“He’s actually a not very scary guy,” says Shannon of the marauding Zod. “He’s just trying to do his job, just like anybody.” Good point, but for the fact that most people’s nine to five doesn’t involve invading other planets…

As to how audiences will respond to the character, Shannon is uncertain. “I don’t know, you know?” he muses. “I don’t want to say. Some people might hate him, some people might love him. But I’m fond of him. I respect him.”

So will he be instructing every Tom, Dick & Harry to “kneel before Zod?” “Zod has some speeches,” confirms Shannon cautiously. “He has some cool speeches. I got to say some cool stuff, but I can’t say any of it right now.”

Understandable reticence given the bonds of secrecy expected by studios these days, although Shannon did go back on himself to reveal one line of genuine dialogue: “Do you realize the universe is constantly shrinking, Superman?” Make of that one, what you will…

Man Of Steel will open in the US on 14 June 2013, with a UK release date still to be confirmed.

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.