Michael Shannon: 'Man of Steel' role 'came out of nowhere'

Michael Shannon still sounds a little bit surprised that he'll be a key part of the next iteration of "Superman" on screen.

Shannon, who landed the part of General Zod in "Man of Steel" over the weekend, says the idea "just came out of nowhere."

"I'm talking to my agent, and he says, 'How about "Superman"?'" Shannon told an audience at the RiverRun International Film Festival in North Carolina Monday night (April 11). "And I'm like, What? The idea that I would ever be in 'Superman.' Are you serious? And he's like, 'Yeah ... you should go meet him.'"

"Him" in this case, is "Man of Steel" director Zack Snyder, who is apparently a fan of Shannon's previous work (he stars on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and earned an Oscar nomination in 2009 for "Revolutionary Road"). Shannon describes their meeting this way: "He's seriously sitting there and he's telling me -- he's like 'You can't read the script, so I'm just gonna tell you what happens.' And he spent like a half hour telling me every scene in this movie. ... And then it's a month later, it's like 'OK, you're General Zod.'"

More from Shannon -- including a bit about his "chemistry" test with "Man of Steel" star Henry Cavill -- is below.