Two ‘Man of Steel’ villains appear to be returning in ‘The Flash’ solo film
It appears that two villains from the DC Extended Universe are making their return in the upcoming superhero film, The Flash.
According to Warner Bros.’ 2022 movie preview, Michael Shannon and Antje Traue, who both appeared in Zack Synder’s 2013 film Man of Steel, are included in the cast list for Ezra Miller’s first standalone movie featuring the Scarlet Speedster.
In case you forgot, Shannon previously played the role of General Zod while Traue portrayed the role of Zod's sub-commander, Faora. In the film, Zod died after Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel was forced to snap his head in order to save a family from the Kryptonian’s heat vision.
Zod’s remains later became the host to Lex Luthor’s DNA thanks to Kryptonian technology, paving the way for Doomsday in 2016’s Batman v Superman.
However, although Doomsday died at the end of the film after Superman stabbed him in the chest using a kryptonite-tipped spear, his return in the upcoming DCEU film is not entirely farfetched since Ezra's first superhero solo film will feature the Flashpoint storyline.
In the story created by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert for DC Comics in 2011, Barry travels back in time in a bid to prevent his mother’s death. But in doing so, he wakes up in an entirely different timeline: his mother Nora is alive while his father, Henry, who is alive in his own timeline, died from a heart attack.
The comic miniseries also introduced a different DC universe: Thomas Wayne becomes the Batman after Bruce’s death while his wife Martha goes insane and eventually turns into the Joker. Wonder Woman and the Amazons are at war with Aquaman and the rest of Atlantis while the US government captures Kal-El after his ship crashed in Metropolis instead of Smallville.
Meanwhile, producer Barbara Muschietti earlier confirmed during the DC FanDome Q&A that the highly-anticipated The Flash film “is going to be fun and exciting and there are a lot of DC characters in it.”
“Flash is the superhero of this film because he is the bridge between all of these characters and timelines. And in a way, it restarts everything and doesn't forget anything,” she said.
As previously reported, director Andrés Muschietti's The Flash solo film will also see the return of two actors who previously donned the cape and cowl: Michael Keaton’s iconic Dark Knight from Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman will appear alongside Barry in the upcoming film as well as Ben Affleck, who played the role in the previous DCEU film Justice League. Of course, they will be joined by Sasha Calle, who is set to make her debut as the DCEU’s Supergirl.
The Flash is slated to premiere in theaters on Nov. 4, 2022.