Michael Shannon was ''flabbergasted'' by his 'Man of Steel' invite.

The star plays villain General Zod in the Superman reboot and admitted he signed on for the film without even being shown the script.

He told the Daily Telegraph Magazine: ''When I got a call from [director] Zack Snyder saying, 'Come to my house in Pasadena, I want to pitch you 'Man of Steel', I was a little flabbergasted.

''I wasn't aware that I was in that club. I didn't think anything like that would ever fall in my lap. So I went out there, and he didn't show me the script but he basically pitched the entire film.''

Recently the actor has spoken about how it would have been impossible to turn down the role despite it being the kind of he ''never thought'' he'd be involved in.

He previously explained: ''I can't fathom how people would say no to 'Man of Steel'. I thought they were pulling my leg... Then I got on set, and realised they were serious. I had no qualms about doing it. I loved it. It was a blast.

''It's a nice feather in my cap, for sure. It's not anything I ever imagined I would be a part of and I'm still trying to process it really.

''When I started acting, I never thought I would be in a Superman movie so it's pretty neat. I did some big blockbusters before, but never this prominent a role.''