Michael Shannon revealed in a recent interview with Empire magazine (via Insider) that he turned down a role in the “Star Wars” franchise due to his general distrust of major Hollywood franchise films. Shannon didn’t reveal the role, but he said the reason for refusing was that he was “a little wary about these giant movies” because they “take up a lot of time and I don’t find them very stimulating. to work”.
“I never want to get stuck in a franchise,” Shannon said. “I don’t find them interesting and I don’t want to perpetuate them. If I do something, I want there to be some sort of purpose – I don’t want to do mindless entertainment. The world doesn’t need more senseless entertainment. We are inundated with it.
Of course, Shannon found himself in a franchise when he accepted the role of General Zod in Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel,” the director’s first DC Universe installment. Shannon told Empire that he signed on for a franchise movie like “Man of Steel” because the script was “actually a very relatable story.”
“It’s basically looking at a civilization that destroyed its own planet and thinking the solution is to go and destroy another one,” Shannon said. “When you hear that hypothetically, if we destroy Earth, we could go live on Mars – it’s the same thing. I didn’t consider Zod a villain. I just saw him as a guy whose job is to protect his people.
While Shannon enjoyed his franchise work on “Man of Steel,” the same can’t be said for the villain’s revival in the DC tentpole that just released “The Flash.”
“I’m not going to lie — it wasn’t very satisfying for me, as an actor,” Shannon told Collider of producing “The Flash.” “These multiverse movies are like someone playing with action figures. It’s like, ‘Here’s that person. Here’s that person. And they’re fighting! That’s not quite the study situation. depth of characters that I honestly felt in “Man of Steel”.
With “The Flash” now in theaters, Shannon is currently free of Hollywood tentpoles for the time being. “The Flash” is playing in theaters nationwide.