VIGGO MAY BE MASTER OF ALL YOU SURVEY

If this is true, Snyder and Nolan are moving in the right direction with the casting for this movie.

The first thing that popped into my mind was Mortensen's performance in The Prophecy. Imagine him bringing that type of menace to a Superman bad guy. I'm getting chills. 

Of course any Viggo is good Viggo, even if it is fucking Zod. Again. What is it with Superman where they feel the need to recycle villains? That backbench is frustratingly deep.

Man, who wants more Zod? Let's have some Braniac damnit! You could even work him into the origin ala Superman the Animated Series. Viggo could still play him!

If we must use General Zod again, Vigoo is an excellent choice.  CHUD alumni Devin Faraci stated over at his new home that Gerard Butler is supposedly being looked at for the role as well.  Another solid choice in my eyes.  If he wasn't already playing Sinestro in The Green Lantern, I would cast a vote Mark Strong's way as well.

Viggo as Zod? That just got me interested.

Yes, if Zod is the way they go then please Nerd God let it be Viggo.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pop Zeus 

Of course any Viggo is good Viggo, even if it is fucking Zod. Again. What is it with Superman where they feel the need to recycle villains? That backbench is frustratingly deep.

I'm not a Supes comic aficionado, but I agree. Especially since this has no chance of being tied into Nolan's Batworld, as originally speculated back in 2004. Go all out with the comic sensibilities and don't repeat yourself.

I really like this, but in my heart, who I want for Zod is still:

Jon Hamm would be another great choice, especially considering how Superman-ish he already looks.  He would be even more of an example of what Superman could become if he let his power go to his head.  There are quite a few actors I wouldn't mind seeing as Zod and each of them would bring a different aspect to the character.  I just hope this turns out well and makes enough money to get the franchise going again......................................that way we might actually get to see the likes of Brainiac, Metallo, Darkseid, etc. on the big screen some day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pop Zeus 

Of course any Viggo is good Viggo, even if it is fucking Zod. Again. What is it with Superman where they feel the need to recycle villains? That backbench is frustratingly deep.

 The more recognizable the villain, the more the audience will be interested, I think.  People claim to want to see new things, but when they see something familiar to them, they're probably more likely to watch.  You better believe that Nolan would have been crucified if he'd made three Batman films with not so much as a mention of The Joker.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarleyQuinn22 

 The more recognizable the villain, the more the audience will be interested, I think.  People claim to want to see new things, but when they see something familiar to them, they're probably more likely to watch.  You better believe that Nolan would have been crucified if he'd made three Batman films with not so much as a mention of The Joker.

Yeah, I get that. It's just frustrating because this means we're likely going to see the same story. SUPERMAN RETURNS is the most egregious example of that. And I'll admit (to your point) that what was so irritating about that film was not so much that they reused Luthor, but that they used the exact same version of Luthor from the Donner films when the character can support so many different interpretations. I guess that's emblematic of the whole movie, where everything was way too familiar.

To be fair to the new creative team, I expect they'll use Zod differently than Donner did in SUPERMAN 2. At least that's my hope. What made Nolan's take on Batman and the Joker feel so fresh was that it was a 180 degree turn from previous filmed version of Batman. I honestly don't think this version can be as fresh, given we've already seen so many different takes on Superman (if you count stuff like Smallville), and almost all of them have some form of that modern realism that Nolan excels at. Sure, the interpretation that Nolan and Snyder are working on might be different so as to not feel distractingly familiar, but my guess is we as the audience will be able to spot a lot of the story beats before they happen. If anything, what we need is a much grander, more fantastical interpretation of Supes, and going back to Zod feels like playing it safe. Also, I'm just especially annoyed because Superman has such a great catalog of villains from which they can establish that entirely fresh take on the character and by ignoring it, this production already feels smaller.

Thing is Zod on film in many ways is like Superman on film - the first cinematic iteration of the character was so indelibly stamped (pardon the pun) by its actors performance, that it's become the default interpretation for the average film viewer. As with Nolans Batman films tho, there's enough inspiration from both the comics and the imagination of an interesting enough film-maker that there are plenty of takes that can be wildly divergent from what everyone knows, thus giving the audience an old name, but essentially a new character.

I mean, what about this Zod?

Or this one?

This one?

How about even this guy or this one?

...and that's just from the comics.

There are a hundred ways to make Zod fresh while still keeping to the theme of "this is the dark side of what Superman could become with all his power" 

Zod is being used again because he can give the basic audience a character who can compete with Superman on a physical level (a big complaint by many about Superman Returns) and because he is popular with genre fans.  If we ever want to see the likes of Darkseid, Brainiac, Metallo, Bizarro, etc. on the big screen battling the Man of Steel, then we had better hope that this one does well.  The are starting with something familiar to relaunch the franchise and we will only gets something different if it actually pays off for them.

I love Viggo and would love to see him in the movie, even if they go with the uninspired choice of Zod.  I just don't get how the powers that be don't realize that Superman has a potentially great cast of villains.  If done right, there could be some legendary conflicts between he and his rogues gallery.  Instead, they seem to be content to tread over the same ground.  Braniac, Metallo, Darkseid would all make compelling villains.  Then there's characters like Bizarro, Doomsday, the Parasite and others who would also be interesting.  Well, it's only the first film in what I'm sure will be multiple films so it's likely they will incorporate other villains into them.

I hope so.

I'm trying to keep an open mind and retain some optimism, but there is a whiff of apologism (sorry to use that word, but...) to the Zod defense. One would think the name recognition of Superman and Nolan would be enough to sell the picture. Plus, wasn't that sense of recycling part of the problem with the last film? Why try to sell this new one with another pre-owned villain? Now I trust Nolan to show us something new, but this just feels like it's playing it too safe. I can see the advantage of having another Kryptonian in the film, but again, Zod's a bit played out.

And all those various interpretations of Zod kinda drive home the point that as a character, he's kinda boring.