The Legendary Zod Latex Body Double

 

One of my favorite Trivia facts regarding the production of Zack Snyder's Man of Steel and Batman V Superman is that a replica latex head was made from Zod actor Michael Shannon and was attached to a latex body prop cast from the body of fitness model and actor Greg Plitt. In the clip from Batman V Superman below, you can see the use of the Zod body prop when Lex Luthor uses Kryptonian technology to create the monstrous Doomsday.

For those brief moments on screen, much care was taken to create a believable likeness to move the story along convincingly. Below is a video of the process and text from the process video notes:

For the blockbuster BATMAN VS SUPERMAN, Studio ADI created two ultra-realistic replicas of the deceased General Zod that would withstand close scrutiny by a camera lense. Fitness trainer Greg Plitt came to ADI for us to lifecast his body from the neck down while our colleague Barney Burman loaned us a headcast of actor Michael Shannon. Once the Shannon headcast was copied both the head and body were run in silicone with a polyfoam fill to make them solid.

Zod body silicone runs and seaming: Tony Matijevich, Brian Clawson, and Tim Leach. Hair: Denise Baer. Paint: Mike Larrabee. PLEASE NOTE: no photographs in this video represent REAL or ACTUAL deceased individuals (they are photos of previous replica work).

Before the release of the film, Greg Plitt passed away. This video is dedicated to his memory.

Incidentally, Zack Snyder had worked with Plitt previously. As stated on Greg Plitt's website:

“Warner Bros. cast Greg Plitt as body of Dr. Manhattan in this spring’s blockbuster film, ‘The Watchmen.’ Director, Zach Snyder, chose fitness model and actor Greg Plitt; the VFX crew took digitized Plitt in 3D and took high-definition video of the model against a grid with muscles relaxed, flexed and tensed. The crew then 3D-digitized Billy Crudup’s head and ‘frankensteined Billy’s head onto Greg’s body,’ ...”

More information & Links on Watchmen production notes for Dr. Manhattan.

👏 BTW-- Michael Shannon remains proud of his work in Man of Steel and the controversial scene where Superman kills General Zod, defending it as an important part of the film's narrative. 

Shannon recently addressed the scene, more than a decade after the film's release, and explained that director Zack Snyder deliberately put Superman in an impossible situation where he had no choice but to take a life to save innocent people. 

Key points from his recent comments:

• He is "proud" of the movie because he feels "it's actually about something," contrary to critics who dismissed it as just a typical blockbuster.

• He acknowledges the controversy, stating, "one of the controversies with this film ... is that Superman is not supposed to kill anybody," but defends the creative decision to force the hero into that difficult moral choice.

• He loved working with Zack Snyder and stands by the film's artistic vision. 
  
  
• The scene, where Superman snaps Zod's neck during their final battle to stop him from murdering a family with his heat vision, was a major point of debate among fans and critics, but Shannon views it as a necessary and significant moment for the character's journey.