Zack Snyder Confirms He Originally Wanted Daniel Day-Lewis to Play Zod in MAN OF STEEL

Zack Snyder is just coming off the warmly received cut of Justice League, which is reportedly his last DC effort. Fans would like to see his vision continue, but for now, we always have his former films to look back on. One of Snyder’s earlier DC films was Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill as Clark Kent, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, and Michael Shannon as General Zod. Shannon did a great job in the role of the villain, but he wasn’t Snyder’s first choice.

In a recent interview with MTV (via CB), Snyder said he first wanted Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood, Lincoln) in the role of Zod. He said:

"When you talk about Daniel Day-Lewis as an actor, he can play any part you want. So yeah, so we always, we did talk. We had hoped Daniel Day-Lewis would be interested in the movie."

This was really swinging for the fences on Snyder’s part, as DDL is a three-time Oscar-winner who is famously choosy about the roles he takes, never having starred in a non-serious role, much less a comic book movie. As we now know, the actor didn’t bite for the role, and Shannon fit right into the part.

Would you have liked to have seen Daniel Day-Lewis in the role of General Zod?