Originally published August 20, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
Although Michael Shannon’s Man of Steel villain General Zod is confirmed to be making an appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, his exact role in the film has largely been kept a secret. While we may not know how Zod fits into the plot (spoilers), especially considering that he died in Man of Steel, actor Michael Shannon did reveal some information about his character’s strange new look in a recent interview with Vulture.
While telling an anecdote about how he got stuck in a porta-potty during the shoot, Shannon said, “I was in my costume, and I couldn’t use my fingers because in the sequel I have flippers instead of hands. So I had these wax flippers on my fingers, and I couldn’t open the door, and I could hear Zack [Snyder, the director] being like, ‘Where’s Shannon?'”
He finished the story by saying that a craft-service guy eventually did open the door for him.
As strange as it may seem, it sounds like Zod may have swapped out his hands for flippers in the upcoming sequel. One of the more reasonable explanations for this could be that the flippers are only worn by Shannon, not Zod, and are being used to transform the character in post-production in some way. It’s also entirely possible that the flippers are a result of a project Lex Luthor does on Zod’s body, but there’s no way of knowing for sure.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is set for release on March 25th 2016 and sees Zack Snyder directing a cast that includes returning Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill (Superman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Laurence Fishburne (Perry White), Harry Lennix (General Swanwick), Michael Shannon (General Zod) and Christina Wren (Carrie Farris) alongside Ben Affleck (Argo) as Batman, Gal Gadot (Fast & Furious 6) as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) as Aquaman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jesse Eisenberg (Now You See Me) as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons (The Borgias) as Alfred Pennyworth, Holly Hunter (The Piano) as Senator Finch, Tao Okamoto (The Wolverine) as Mercy Graves, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen) as Thomas Wayne and Jena Malone (Sucker Punch), Callan Mulvey (300: Rise of an Empire), and Scoot McNairy (Argo) in as-yet-unrevealed roles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=8k_v0cVxqEY
