Credit: Warner Bros.Multiverse movies are all the craze these days, with the likes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe leading the way, whether it’s for its very own arch nemesis DC, or non-franchise movies like Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).
For Marvel, it all started with Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), and continued with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). For the Sony side of things, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) recently came swinging into theaters, the CG-animated multiversal follow-up to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018).
Related: ‘Jumanji’ Star Becomes the Man of Steel For James Gunn’s ‘Superman’ Reboot
DC has always been a few steps behind Marvel, but this week, that’s all set to change. The Flash (2023) will come racing into theaters, and for the first time in the DC Universe, the Multiverse is about to be shattered, as Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller), will, upon time-travelling to rewrite his own past, set in motion a chain of events that will “break the universe”.
This will allow for several DC characters to enter the fold, whether they’re from non-DCU timelines, such as Michael Keaton’s version of Bruce Wayne/Batman from the two Tim Burton-directed films, Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), or characters who were previously killed off within the DCU itself, such as General Zod (Michael Shannon).
Related: 5 Actors Who Could Play Batman In James Gunn’s DC Universe
Shannon made his debut performance as the vengeful Kryptonian in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel (2013), opposite Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent/Superman/Kal-El. While he has a cameo-of-sorts in Zack Snyder’s follow-up, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), The Flash marks his official return to the DCU — although, obviously, he isn’t the same version.
Earlier this year, Shannon admitted that he was “a little confused” when he was approached by Warner Bros. and DC to reprise his role as General Zod, until the multiversal concept was explained to him. He also added, much to everyone’s disappointment, that he doesn’t have that large a role in The Flash, despite appearing in almost every trailer.
Related: Every Live-Action Batman Movie Villain Ranked From Worst to Best
Now, The Shape of Water (2017) star has revealed that “multiverse movies” aren’t for him. While he’s yet to watch The Flash, Shannon recently told Collider that the role wasn’t “satisfying” for him this time around, which really ties into what he previously said about not having much to do in the film compared to his Man of Steel performance:
“I’m not going to lie — it wasn’t quite satisfying for me, as an actor,” he said. “These multiverse movies are like somebody playing with action figures. It’s like, ‘Here’s this person. Here’s that person. And they’re fighting!’ It’s not quite the in-depth character study situation that I honestly felt Man of Steel was.”
Related: 3 Versions of Batman Who Could Appear In ‘The Flash’, and 3 Who Definitely Won’t
Shannon’s absolutely right — Man of Steel is a deep character study of Superman, while Zod himself is far from a two-dimensional villain. Interestingly, both Zod and Superman want the same thing: Zod wants to give his fellow Kryptonians a chance at survival, while Superman wants to protect the human race — which is why the two collide (quite literally, throughout Metropolis).
In fact, Shannon loves Man of Steel so much that he asked director Zack Snyder for his blessing to return as Zod in The Flash.
“I was hesitant [to come back] because I wasn’t really happy about what happened to Zack Snyder in that whole deal,” Shannon told Collider. “I talked to [The Flash director] Andy Muschietti about it, and I said, ‘Andy, look — I just want to get Zack’s blessing on this because it just doesn’t feel right without that.’ And Zack, to his credit, was very understanding. He gave me his blessing, and I went to do it.”
As for multiverse movies, perhaps he’s right about them too. While it’s a ton of fun watching characters from multiple timelines team up, for many this undoubtedly represents a lack of creativity within Hollywood, serving as nothing more than nostalgic cash-grabs.
Shannon’s comments around comparing such films to people “playing with action figures” is also interesting, as it sounds like The Flash will, as suspected, feature a lot more cameos than just the likes of Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck.
Related: New ‘Flash’ “TV Spot” Finally Unmasks Legacy Batman Actor, But Which One?
Shannon recently defended The Flash star Ezra Miller, who made headlines last year following a series of arrests. Now, he has praised Miller’s performance in the upcoming film, saying, “I just think Ezra is a fascinating performer and actor. I can’t wait to see this performance. It’s a huge challenge. I don’t want to give anything away, but what Ezra has to do in this movie is pretty crazy. I think [they’re] up for the task.”
Check out the final trailer for The Flash below:
Related: ‘Batman’ Reboot “Trailer” Sees ‘Fifty Shades’ Actor Take Over as Bruce Wayne
As per Wikipedia, here’s the synopsis for the upcoming DCU film:
Barry Allen/The Flash travels back in time to prevent his mother’s murder, which traps him in an alternate reality without metahumans. He enlists the help of Batman and the Kryptonian castaway Supergirl from alternate realities in order to save this world from the restored General Zod and return to his universe.
The Flash stars Ezra Miller (Barry Allen/The Flash), Sasha Calle (Kara Danvers/Kara Zor-El/Supergirl), Michael Shannon (General Zod), Ron Livingston (Henry Allen), Michael Keaton (Bruce Wayne/Batman), and Ben Affleck (Bruce Wayne/Batman).
The film releases in theaters on June 16.
Do you think Michael Shannon has a point about multiverse movies? Are they creative stories, or the complete opposite? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!