Michael Shannon’s casting in Superman made me so happy.

For once in my life I’m actually looking forward to a Superman movie. I don’t dislike Superman, I’ve just never been very interested in his character. I grew up in the age of the Ninja Turtles, X-men, and Spiderman. Superman was totally irrelevant. Maybe even a bit antiquated. I only saw the Superman movies when I was in my late teens. So they were dated, even corny. There was no nostalghia to be had.

I don’t like to blog about updates or possible casting or directing changes unless it pertains specifically to movies that interest me. Aronofsky’s recent departure from The Wolverine made me indifferent to such announcements until principal photography begins.

Shannon being cast as Zod is stroke of genius, because he’s so obviously not the first choice. These days I’m surprised they didn’t hire Ryan Reynolds or something.

Moreover, I’ve been singing Shannon’s genius since I saw Shotgun Stories in 2007. I commented it might be one of the better performances I’d seen in a long time. So fucking subtle and nuanced. This is just a short clip, but I think it works.

He was very good in Revolutionary Road, if the character was not a bit thematically contrived. He was even better in Son, Son What Have Ye Done and finally showed the world he was a force to be reckoned with as the guilt-ridden federal agent in Boardwalk Empire.

Shannon has a brooding intensity that makes all his characters fascinating and he does this effortlessly. I remember him commenting that when he’s relaxed he just seems to look angry. Its not that he looks angry, it looks like there is madness behind his eyes.

Lastly, after seeing Sucker Punch I’m terrified that Zach Snyder might have let his technique get the best of him. My hope is that producers will stay on top of him to make the movie less of slow motion shots set to music on Zach Snyder’s Ipod and more of what traditionally makes Synder great: His impeccable ability to make stuff look cool.

-Collin