Michael Shannon Says Movie Franchises Are ‘Blind Entertainment’

• • Michael Shannon Says He Turned Down a Star Wars Role Because He Doesn’t Like Blockbusters
  • He said empire: “The world doesn’t need more mindless entertainment. We’re inundated with it.”
  • He said he was “shocked” to learn he would be reprising his DC Universe role in “The Flash.”

michael shannonwho starred in “flash,“His third film dc universesaid he turned down a role “Star Wars’ because he doesn’t find blockbusters and franchises “interesting” and doesn’t want to “perpetuate them.”

in a new interview empire magazine print editionthe 48-year-old actor was asked if he would turn down the role that would take him to a galaxy far, far away — saying he was “a bit apprehensive about those giant movies” because they “take a lot of time and I don’t feel like they work Very exciting.”

“I never want to get caught up in franchises. I don’t find them interesting, and I don’t want to perpetuate them,” he said. “If I’m doing something, I want it to have some purpose – I don’t want to do mindless entertainment.”

“The world doesn’t need more mindless entertainment. We’re inundated with it,” he added.

As for why he thinks Play as the supervillain General Zod Unlike “The Flash” in the DC Extended Universe — a film that was marketed as both a summer blockbuster and part of a franchise — he said it’s “actually a very relatable story.”

“It’s basically looking at a civilization that destroyed its own planet and thinking the solution is to leave and destroy another planet,” he said.

“When you hear the hypothesis that if we destroy Earth, we might live on Mars — that’s one thing,” he continued. “I don’t see him as a villain. I just see him as a man whose mission is to protect his people.”

However, he admitted that he didn’t expect to “see himself playing Zod again” in DC’s latest installment, as his character was in “man of Steel,” saw him Satisfied by Superman (Henry Cavill) at the end of the movie. (Shannon also wrote in the 2016 “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” also.)

“That’s actually one of the reasons I made Man of Steel in the first place—it was a one-off,” he explained.

“So I was devastated to hear that the character was being retaliated against. But I love the story ‘The Flash’ tells, and I haven’t been there in a long time – I’ve only been there for a few weeks – so It didn’t hurt my back to do that.”

“The Flash” takes place in an alternate timeline where the Justice League doesn’t exist, so Zod tries to take over Earth and transform it into a new home for his nearly extinct Kryptonian race.

Since no Superman can beat him, it’s up to Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) And his team, consisting of Supergirl (Sasha Calle) and Batman (Michael Keaton), are out to defeat Zod this time.Read Insider Entertainment reporter Kirsten Acuna’s review of The Flash here.