General Zod

Cosplayer as General Zod.

General Zod (full name Dru-Zod) is a fictional Superman character who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character, who first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 (April 1961), was created by Robert Bernstein and initially designed by George Papp. He is a supervillain from Superman's planet Krypton. He has the same powers and strength that his enemy Superman has. He was sent to Earth to kill Superman.

Total Film ranked Zod #32 on their "Top 50 Greatest Villains of All Time" list in 2007. Pop-culture website IGN.com ranked General Zod as #30 on their list of the "Top 100 Comic Book Villains", asserting that "Stamp is Zod".

Publication history

General Zod was first introduced in Adventure Comics #283 in 1961, created by writer Robert Bernstein and artist George Papp.

Fictional character biography

Zod was born on Krypton and was a member of the ruling council before the planet's destruction. His character's origin story often includes his conflict with the law, leading to his imprisonment in the Phantom Zone—a limbo-like dimension designed for Kryptonian criminals—after attempting to conquer Krypton or assert his dominion over others.

Powers and abilities

He possesses abilities similar to Superman due to the effects of Earth's yellow sun, giving him superhuman strength, speed, flight, heat vision, and more.

In other media

He was played by Terence Stamp in Superman and in Superman II. He was also played by Michael Shannon in Man of Steel and The Flash.