It’s General Zod’s most-famous line (at least, from the Superman movies): “Kneel before Zod!” Yet Michael Shannon, who’s playing the infamous villain in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel movie, spoils a bit of our Krypton fun by telling VH1 that he doesn’t say the line in the movie. (And man, does he look uncomfortable playing along with host Carrie Keagan’s brand of early-morning chat wackiness …)
Peep the video here, via VH1’s Big Morning Buzz Live:
Painful. If Shannon looks this uncomfortable discussing Man of Steel now, how’s he going to handle the full-court press that comes with plugging a major-studio summer tentpole next June? Dude’s going to have press outlets clamoring for something. He’s going to hear “Kneel before Zod” roughly 2.5 zillions times between now and when he’s finished promoting Snyder’s film. I hope it becomes easier for him.
However, given his cold-shoulder brush off of Keagan’s lame Groundhog Day “wrong footage” gag, maybe he actually does say the line in the movie, and he just didn’t want to bother giving the hard-hitters at VH1 a scoop? Anything’s possible - not that Shannon needs the line to solidify his portrayal of Zod. It’s a formidable role, he’s a tremendous actor, and repeating the line would sort of be bowing down to Terence Stamp’s portrayal (which is dated and done at this point). He shouldn’t say the line; he should bring something fresh to the table. And if Man of Steel is the movie that resurrects Superman for a new generation, only then will we all kneel.
