It's being suggested that producer Chris Nolan and director Zack Snyder are closing in on Viggo Mortensen to portray the marquee villain in the new Superman reboot, expected to be that of the megalomaniac General Zod. The Hollywood Reporter say Mortensen is "a person of interest" (what... a murder suspect????) for Warner Bros, but we imagine at this stage of the pre-production (they already have a Superman in Henry Cavill, and Kevin Costner is wanted as Jonathan Kent) that they are determined to court the versatile actor who hasn't appeared in a blockbuster since The Lord of the Rings wrapped over seven years ago. The only stumbling block appears to be Universal's Snow White and The Huntsmen, where Mortensen has been attached for weeks to play the latter title character alongside Kristen Stewart's Snow White and Charlize Theron's Evil Queen, but with Superman not filming till June, hopefully things can be ironed out. If it ends up coming down to a straight choice between the two projects, we know which one we hope he chooses. If a deal can be reached, Mortensen would become the second actor cast in Snyder's film from my own personal wishlist, however back in November I had Viggo named as a possible contender for the Lex Luthor part. He truly is a modern day great and right now he's enjoying a golden peak of his career as he floats from one outstanding character performance to the next. I thought he was remarkable in both Eastern Promises and The Road - and he would bring a chilling and heartless quality to Zod that will captivate a new generation to the villain. So an appearance from Zod, the main baddie of Richard Donner's Superman II & a fellow exile of Krypton (memorably played by Terrence Stamp decades ago), is again treading on old cinematic ground but at least from the sounds of things we aren't getting another overtly Lex Luthor story and Zod is a good alien villain to settle audiences into the possibility of bigger concepts and ideas for sequels. That's because he has exactly the same powers as Superman, they are equals in terms of strength, so we won't need to see Kryptonite as the only way to stop Superman from saving the world and nor will we have a villain like Doomsday who might leave less room for maneuver in sequels.If Zod is to make an appearance, it would likely confirm reports from a few weeks ago that Zod's right-hand woman Ursa would have a role in the film, rumoured then for Alice Eve, Diane Kruger (although her reps denied it) and Rosamund Pike. So now that two names from my own personal wishlist could end up in this new Superman (Cavill & Mortensen) and with the quite frankly excellent choice of Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent, Snyder is casting a pretty inspired ensemble so far, wouldn't ya say? Superman will fly in June, and will land in theatres Dec 2012 (yup, just over a year and a half away!).