The Flash: Superman star was ‘hesitant’ to return for Ezra Miller movie – called Snyder | Films | Entertainment

The Flash is set to come out next month, and the first trailers have shown Barry Allen getting into multiverse madness by jumping through time.

In these trailers, fans have been introduced to classic Batman Michael Keaton, a new Supergirl, and Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne, as well.

But the picture is also bringing back some characters from Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, including Michael Shannon. The American star played General Zod, the nemesis of Henry Cavill’s Superman, and fellow Kryptonian.

Shannon recently confessed on the Bingeworthy podcast that, after being approached about making a comeback as Zod, he didn’t know if he wanted to return to the big screen as the villain.

“I was hesitant [to come back] because I wasn’t really happy about what happened to Zack Snyder in that whole deal,” he said.

READ MORE: Massive Batman star ‘cameos in The Flash’ with Keaton and Affleck

Snyder has had a tumultuous relationship with DC Studios in the past. After Man of Steel was brought back to direct Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. However, the latter was overtaken by the studio when Snyder suffered a death in the family. He wasn’t brought back to fix the movie until 2020 when he released the fabled Snyder Cut of Justice League – a five-hour, monochrome cut of the picture.

Shannon went on: “I really love Zack. The fact that Zack asked me to play that part to begin with — that’s probably the biggest surprise of my career. It almost felt like a practical joke. I was like: ‘You’re kidding me, right?'”

The actor explained that he approached The Flash director Andy Muschietti to talk about his options: “I liked Andy, and I said: ‘Andy, look — I just want to get Zack’s blessing on this because it just doesn’t feel right without that.'”

Shannon did exactly that. He called Snyder and tried to figure out where he stood on his friend working with Warner Bros and DC Studios once again.

He said: “And Zack, to his credit, was very understanding. He gave me his blessing, and I went to do it. I loved Andy, too. I loved working with Andy. They’re both super creative guys.”

Shannon even found himself becoming mesmerised by Muschietti’s work on the set of the movie. “He would just make these drawings when I was sitting there talking to him,” he recalled. “I’d look over and say: ‘Hey, can I keep that?’ and he’d go: ‘Sure!’ and sign it and give it to me.”

The 48-year-old actor previously confessed he wasn’t even sure if he should be making a comeback as Zod because of how his story ended.

At the end of Man of Steel, Superman snapped Zod’s neck to save some people from being vaporised by his heat vision.

Zod’s body was then used to create Doomsday, the feral creature that would go on to kill Superman.

“But, you know, it’s just really different,” Shannon said of the Flash. “These kind of multiverse situations. The story is a lot more all over the place, you know? And I feel like I mainly exist in The Flash as, like, an obstacle or a problem. Whereas, in Man of Steel, it was more of a story. Like, The Flash is definitely about The Flash – as it should be. So, it’s not as in-depth.”

The Flash hits cinemas on June 16, 2023.