Michael Shannon is fast becoming one of the best actors of all time with his work. And though he may want to stay away from the world of superhero movies, we think that Michael Shannon‘s portrayal of Zod marks him as one of the best movie villains of all time.
His role in in the Superman movie came early in the DC Universe, but according to the man himself, the ‘big summer blockbuster’ isn’t exactly a world he’s particularly interested in.
In fact, he even rejected a role in one of the rebooted Star Wars movies. His reason for the avoidance is pretty understandable, once you hear him out.
“I’m always a bit wary about those giant movies,” Shannon has said [via Empire]. “Because they take a lot of time and I don’t find them very stimulating to work on. I don’t ever want to get stuck in a franchise. I don’t find them interesting and I don’t want to perpetuate them.”
“If I’m making something, I want there to be some kind of purpose to it – I don’t want to make mindless entertainment. The world doesn’t need more mindless entertainment. We’re inundated with it.”
So what was the reason for rejecting a role in a galaxy far far away, only to take on another equally significant franchise? Well, Shannon says it’s because Man of Steel was built on “actually a very relevant story”.
“It’s basically looking at a civilization that destroyed their own planet and think the solution is to go off and destroy another,” he explained. “When you hear that hypothetically, if we destroy the Earth, we might go live on Mars — it’s the same thing. I didn’t look at Zod as a villain. I just saw him as a guy whose job is to protect his people.”
Aside from his return to the role of Zod in The Flash, Shannon has pretty much stayed true to this rule of thumb throughout his filmography. With that in mind, it’s likely we won’t be catching him in a Fast and Furious or Transformers movie anytime soon.
Michael Shannon may stay away from superhero franchises, but we can’t get enough of them. Check out our The Flash review to see how he fared, and find out everything you need to know about the Blue Beetle release date.
Plus, check out some of the best thriller movies and best movies of all time to see how many of his movies make an appearance.