Salute Your General: Michael Shannon as Zod

The upcoming Man of Steel requires star Henry Cavill to perform against thirty years of reverence for Christopher Reeve's portrayal of Superman, as it hopes to give audiences a fresh, modern take on the character.  It also creates a similar responsibility for the on-screen return of the villainous General Zod, played memorably by Terrance Stamp in the first two films of the original franchise.  With Stamp's commanding poise as the vengeful Kryptonian solider and memorable catchphrases ("Kneel before Zod!"), the actor, like Reeve, gave a performance hard to follow, even after three decades.  The Man of Steel crew, however, have perhaps found just the man for the job in Academy Award-nominee Michael Shannon.

Born on August 7th, 1974 in Lexington, Kentucky, Michael Corbett Shannon began his acting career on the Chicago stage, debuting in a production of Winterset at the Illinois Theater Center while also being involved with The Steppenwolf Theater Company, among other acting groups.  1993 proved to be a pivotal year for Shannon, during which he co-founded the city's Red Orchid Theater and made his big screen debut in a very minor role in the Bill-Murray starring Groundhog Day.  Throughout the rest of the decade and into the early 2000's, Shannon appeared in a variety of productions on both stage and screen and gained more mainstream exposure by way of the 2001 films Pearl Harbor and Vanilla Sky, followed by 8 Mile (2002) and Bad Boys II (2003).  Additional appearances with more of Hollywood's best followed, but it was his performance in the Sam Mendes-directed Revolutionary Road in 2008 that emerged as his breakout role, earning him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.

In the film, which marked the on-screen reunion of Titanic stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, Shannon portrayed John Givings, a man who, despite his well-disclosed mental instability, is able to predict the demise of the couple's troubled marriage well before anyone else.  As so often happens following award-worthy performances, the demand for Shannon has become widespread in recent years.  In addition to roles in films like 2010's Runaways and last year's Premium Rush, Shannon earned high praise from his role in Take Shelter (2011), for which it is believed he narrowly missed a second Academy Award nomination.  He has also starred in HBO's critically-acclaimed series Boardwalk Empire, which itself has become a recent mainstay of the television awards circuit.  His established reputation for playing intense, menacing characters, coupled with his imposing 6'4'' frame, makes it all the more understandable why director Zack Snyder and company sought him for the role of the dangerous and powerful General Zod, and given the images and footage we've seen of him so far (see above for upcoming magazine cover and promotional video for examples), come this June we may all have no choice but to kneel before Michael Shannon.        

Amy Adams, Daily Planet

Dating back to the first half of the 1900s, there have been few female characters as universally recognizable as Lois Lane.  The famously ambitious reporter for the daily planet debuted alongside Superman in the first issue of Action Comics in June of 1938 and has since remained both an essential piece of the hero's lore and a fixture of pop culture itself.  Her seventy-five year history has shown her in an endless variety of media that includes radio serials, a Broadway play, television, five live-action films, video games and a multitude of animated series and movies.  In developing Man of Steel, therefore, the Daily Planet's best journalist was arguably the second most important role for the filmmakers to cast.  A-list Hollywood actresses such as Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway and Rachel McAdams were said to have been considered, but the job ultimately went to four-time Academy Award-nominated Amy Adams.          

Born to parents Kathryn and Richard on August 20th, 1974, Amy Lou Adams grew up in Castle Rock, Colorado very involved in the performing arts.  Throughout her childhood and adolescence she sang in school choirs, served as a dance company apprentice, and performed in dinner theater productions of musicals such as "A Chorus Line" and "Brigadoon."  She earned her first major film role in 2002's Catch Me if You Can, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, and three years later earned her first Oscar nomination with her role in 2005's Junebug.  Despite the rave reviews of her performance, it was her starring turn in the 2007 Disney film Enchanted that became her breakout role, with her character's depiction of a fairytale princess in real-world New York City giving her an outlet to showcase the singing and dancing skills she developed while growing up.

The large mainstream exposure that comes from any well-received Disney film quickly made Adams a household name, and she has since remained a consistent force on the awards circuit, earning three additional Oscar nominations in the last five years, for 2008's Doubt, 2010's The Fighter, and 2012's The Master.  In these and other films during that span she has more than held her own among such Hollywood legends and powerhouse performers as Clint Eastwood, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and others.  With Man of Steel, Adams will become just the third Lois Lane to ever grace the big screen, following Margot Kidder's memorable portrayal in the Christopher Reeve-starring films and Kate Bosworth's rather forgettable turn in 2006's Superman Returns.  While there remains a strong reverence for Kidder's performance of the character in the previous franchise, she was known to clash with the films' producers, and her own personal struggle with her bipolar mental condition failed to provide her with much of a career following her tenure in the role.  Bosworth's performance, like the film itself, failed to resonate with audiences and made her seem miscast in such a vital role.  Adams, on the other hand, with a steadily rising career and consistently award-worthy performances, already becomes the most accomplished actress to ever portray the character well before the film is even released this June, as her turn in Man of Steel will likely serve as among the pinnacles of Lois Lane's rich history in popular culture.