Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has divided fans and critics over its story and interpretation of classic characters, but if there’s one thing everyone can agree on (besides Ben Affleck’s Batman) it’s that the film had some really great special effects. You can always count on a Zack Snyder film to have big loud effects, but this video focuses on something that might have slipped past your radar. Watch this behind the scenes video of the team at studio ADI as they construct a replica of General Zod’s body.
It’s amazing to see the level of detail and the amount of work that goes into something that doesn’t have a lot of screen time. Even just sculpting the lines and contours on the bottom of his foot, which is something you wouldn’t even really see in the finished film, is amazing. There’s no arguing that the end result is fantastic. I wanted someone in the video to poke the body just to make sure it wasn’t alive.
Here’s what that same replica looked like in final cut of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
And here’s what Zod actor Michael Shannon, who must not have wanted to come back just to sit around in a body bag, looked like as the main villain in Zack Snyder's 2013 flick Man of Steel.
That's a pretty great resemblance! This whole process took almost a year to complete, but I’m curious to how long body double Greg Plitt actually had to sit and get covered in that plaster. It can’t be comfortable and it really makes you sympathize with actors like Jennifer Lawrence in the X-Men films, who have to sit for hours on end to transform into their characters.
I’m really curious what they do with the replica after the movie is finished. Do they keep it in a warehouse filled with fake corpse bodies or do they dissolve it in acid Breaking Bad style? If I was Michael Shannon, I would ask to keep it to use for pranks around the house.
Wonder Woman, the next film in the DC Movieverse, is scheduled to release June 23, 2017. It stars Gal Gadot, reprising her role, and is directed by Patty Jenkins.
