Michael Shannon asked for Zack Snyder's blessing before playing General Zod in The Flash

The Flash is bringing back familiar faces from past DC movies, and they're not all heroes. As we saw in the film's latest trailer, Michael Shannon will reprise his role as General Zod, the Kryptonian supervillain he first played in 2013's Man of Steel.

It's been a decade since Shannon's last appearance in a DC superhero movie, and the studio has undergone a number of changes in the intervening years. For example, Zack Snyder, who helmed Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, is no longer with the studio following the controversies that erupted out of his work on 2017's Justice League.

Given all that hubbub, Shannon said in a new interview on the Bingeworthy podcast that he sought Snyder's blessing before returning to the DC universe.

"I was hesitant, because I wasn't really happy about what happened to Zack Snyder in that whole deal," Shannon said. "And I really love Zack. The fact that Zack asked me to play that part to begin with — that's probably the biggest surprise of my career. It almost felt like a practical joke. I was like, 'You're kidding me, right?'"

Warner Bros. Pictures Michael Shannon returns as General Zod in 'The Flash'

Shannon said that he checked with The Flash director Andy Muschietti before reaching out to Snyder, but both filmmakers were cool with it.

"Zack, to his credit, was very understanding," Shannon said. "He gave me his blessing, and I went to do it. I loved Andy, too. I loved working with Andy. They're both super creative guys."

In an interview with Looper last month, Shannon said he was initially "a little confused" when asked to return as Zod, given the character's violent death at the end of Man of Steel. Once the time-travel shenanigans had been unpacked for him, however, he agreed and said "it was nice to revisit the character."

The Flash screened for select viewers at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this week, and will hit theaters on June 16.

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