The Flash Will Apparently Bring Back Man Of Steel's General Zod & Faora

Man, remember the days when the "Flash" movie was meant to be the first "solo" film to be released after "Justice League" in 2017? How quickly things change. In the time since, multiverse stories have become all the rage — though general audiences have come to associate that with "Spider-Man" of all characters, through the double-whammy of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and the most recent runaway success of "Spider-Man: No Way Home." That sort of leaves the time-traveling, multiverse-hopping Flash out to dry, who is downright infamous for wrecking timelines and causing all sorts of temporal headaches in the comics.

But with "The Flash" clearly taking its cues from the popular "Flashpoint" comic series, fans quickly gravitated towards the appeal of seeing DC characters from past franchises coming together in one massive multiverse extravaganza. Ezra Miller, of course, returns as the speedster superhero Barry Allen, but he'll be joined by famous faces such as Ben Affleck reprising his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Michael Keaton stepping into the shoes of Bruce Wayne for the first time in decades, and Sasha Calle as the DC Universe's first appearance of Supergirl.

But the film appears to have a couple more fascinating DC characters who may be coming back as well. If Warner Bros.' official 2022 movie preview tease is to be believed, fans can look forward to seeing none other than Michael Shannon's villainous General Zod and Antje Traue's formidable second-in-command Faora making an unexpected return in "The Flash." Read on for all the details.

The last we saw of General Zod in "Man of Steel," Henry Cavill's rookie Superman had just finished snapping his neck, effectively making himself the last son of Krypton. Poor Zod ended up becoming resurrected as Lex Luthor's (Jesse Eisenberg) little pet project Doomsday in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," who managed to exact some measure of revenge on Superman from beyond the grave. That seemed to be the last we'd ever see of Zod, but think again! Life comes at you fast, especially when there's an entire multiverse of possibilities that means anything and everything is on the table. That apparently includes the return of Michael Shannon and Antje Traue for "The Flash" in some capacity, at least.

This intriguing development comes straight from Warner Bros. themselves, as their 2022 movie preview on the official website includes a rundown of all the studio's most anticipated projects — including "The Flash." First, the brief tease reiterates the synopsis of the film:

"Ezra Miller stars as Barry Allen, AKA The Flash, who pushes the limits of his superpowers in the DC Super Hero's first-ever standalone feature film."

That seems straightforward enough, but the real newsworthy item relates to the cast list: "Ezra Miller, Ron Livingston, Michael Keaton, Kiersey Clemons, Michael Shannon, Antje Traue, Sasha Calle, and Michael Keaton." The inclusion of Keaton's name twice over seems like an innocent enough typo (cue the conspiracy theories that there are two Michael Keaton Batmans running around for some reason), but the inclusion of Michael Shannon and Antje Traue will definitely raise eyebrows. It's unclear what sort of role either one would play in the events of "The Flash," but that's the beauty of the multiverse. With a big enough imagination, anything goes. Perhaps Barry's time-travel shenanigans will bring him to the events of "Man of Steel," or maybe even the other way around as Zod and Faora end up pulled from their timeline into Barry's. Whatever the case, Shannon's Zod and Traue's Faora have always been considered fan-favorites despite their brief appearance in the DC Universe, so nobody will be complaining about seeing more of them should this pan out.

"The Flash" is directed by Andy Muschietti and is scheduled for release on November 4, 2022.