Veteran actor Michael Shannon has played a variety of roles in his career. Comic book movie fans will best remember him for his turn as the war-thirsty General Zod who threatened Earth with destruction until being stopped by Henry Cavill's Superman in Man of Steel. In an interview with Gold Coast Bulletin, Shannon weighed in on rumors that he could be reprising his role as Zod in the planned Supergirl standalone movie.

"Wow, that's interesting. I swear to God, I am not kidding - you are breaking this news to me. I will have to look into that. Zod again? I don't know - it's been a while. I am a little older and creakier now - I'm not sure I could do all the moves.

Also, I have to say in complete and utter seriousness that I just loved working with Zack Snyder and that was a big part of it for me. I don't know who's making this Supergirl movie but I really treasure that experience with Zack. He's a hell of a guy."

It makes sense that Michael Shannon, who is 45 years old, would think twice about reprising a role as physically intense as Zod. In Man of Steel, the climactic battle between Zod and Superman when the former tries to terraform Earth to make a new planet Krypton is considered possibly the most destructive fight scene ever filmed for a superhero movie.

Zod and Superman's fight took them all over the fictional city of Metropolis, crashing into buildings, bursting through the concrete, and generally wreaking havoc on the civilian population. This over-the-top destruction was a big part of the criticism leveled at the movie for indulging in action porn at the expense of the human elements of the narrative.

Zod made a comeback in Batman V Superman, in a way. The DNA from his deceased body was used by Lex Luthor to make a Doomsday-like monster, who ended up taking Superman's life. So if Zod does make a comeback for Supergirl's solo film, it will most probably be in a flashback sequence.

The possibility of Supergirl existing in the world of the DCEU was first hinted at in Man of Steel. When Kal-El visits the Kryptonian spaceship hidden in the artic, we see one of the sleeping pods in the background of a room already open, indicating that its occupant has escaped. Fans have long speculated that this pod belonged to Kara Zor-El, and there was even an expectation that she would be replacing Superman in the Justice League movie.

That theory did not pan out, and from all accounts, Warner Bros. is moving away from the DCEU to focus on standalone movies. So if a Supergirl movie does get made, it will likely have its own storyline unrelated to the events of Man of Steel. As much as Shannon clearly enjoyed working with Zack Snyder, there is little evidence to indicate that the vision Snyder had for the DCEU is going to be followed for upcoming movies set in the DC Comics movie universe. This news comes from Screenrant.