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.