Much to the delight of fanboys (and girls) everywhere, the cast of the Superman reboot is quickly coming together; and since Kaiser mentioned that she’s received some Hot Guy Friday requests for Michael Shannon, his crazy eyes, and the rest of him too, it’s probably not a bad idea to cover this story. It’s also rather refreshing that Shannon, to his very own surprise, has been cast as the villainous General Zod in the upcoming Superman reboot.

The addition of Shannon only adds to the inexplicable amount of Oscar power for what is essentially going to be (arguably) a throwaway comic-book movie. Amy Adams, who shall play Lois Lane, has been nominated thrice (for Junebug, Doubt, and The Fighter); Diane Lane, who’s been cast as Martha Kent, has earned one nomination (for Unfaithful); Kevin Costner has won twice (for his directing work in Dances With Wolves); and Shannon has been nominated once (for Revolutionary Road). So much wasted talent, right? On the other hand, these blockbuster movies carry higher salaries than the indies, so perhaps it’s truly overdue that a superhero movie would hire real talent instead of, you know, Linnocent. As for General Zod himself, Shannon has displayed a rather disarming “Who, me?” approach to being cast in one of the most sought-after roles in Hollywood:

Michael Shannon, who was cast as villain Zod in director Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman reboot, still can’t get over the fact that he is now a part of the franchise.
“This ‘Superman’ thing is ridiculous. It just came out of nowhere,” he said during an appearance at RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, notes MTV.com. “I was talking to my agent … she’s like, ‘How about ‘Superman’? I’m like, ‘What?” The idea that I would ever be in ‘Superman’! I’m like, ‘Are you serious?’ ”

When he met Snyder, Shannon said he was “seriously sitting there and he’s telling me, ‘You can’t read the script, so I’m just gonna tell you what happens.’ And he spent a half hour telling me every scene in this movie. He’s at his home in Pasadena and I’m looking out — there’s the Rose Bowl, there’s little hummingbirds flying around. I’m like, ‘I’m on acid!’ ”

Snyder eventually decided Shannon was perfect fit. To convince others, he had Shannon and Henry Cavill (who plays Superman) do a reading together. “They said, ‘You have to come back because we want to see if you and Superman have chemistry,'” Shannon recalled.

He got the part a month after their reading.

His thoughts of Cavill as Superman?

Said Shannon, “I think this guy will be all right.”

[From Hollywood Reporter]

Here’s a video clip of the same interview, and I was immediately struck by how different his real-life voice is from the character that he played in Revolutionary Road, and I love that he was genuinely shocked to even be considered for the Zod role. Now, we just have to wait and see if Zack Snyder puts all of this talent to good use or just turns it into another one of his CGI circles of hell.

Photos are from 2011 and 2010, except for the shaggy haired one, that’s from 2009. Credit: WENN and Fame