Michael Shannon says the viral 'Batman v Superman' story about him wearing flippers as General Zod was just a joke

Turns out it's hard to know when Michael Shannon is joking.

Earlier this month the actor told a reporter for Vulture that he is starring in the upcoming movie "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," reprising his role as General Zod from the 2013 film "Man of Steel."

He then went on to tell a funny story about an incident that happened on set.

"I was in my costume, and I couldn't use my fingers because in the sequel I have flippers instead of hands," he told the reporter. "So I had these wax flippers on my fingers, and I couldn't open the door, and I could hear Zack [Snyder, the director] being like, 'Where's Shannon? Where the f-k is he?' and the whole crew was standing around. I was like, knocking on the door with my flippers, 'Let me out of here!'"

Fortunately, Shannon was finally let out by a person in craft services, as the story goes.

The story went viral across the internet, with many sites coming up with theories as to why General Zod would now suddenly have flippers.

But when talking to Business Insider on Monday Shannon came clean: the story was a joke.

"That was me just having a laugh," Shannon told BI while doing press for his new movie "99 Homes."

"I mean, honestly, the whole situation is kind of absurd because you're not supposed to talk about it. They [the studio] tell you, 'Don't talk about it,' and people keep asking you about it."

Shannon says he made up the story to entertain himself, because it can get boring when readers ask the same questions over and over again.

"Every once in a while to amuse myself I say something ridiculous and it's amazing how it takes off," he said. "I guess people are that desperate to get some glimpse into - I mean, can't you just wait for the movie to come out? Isn't it more fun that way? I don't understand this thing about knowing everything about a movie before going to see it."

Shannon said he wasn't surprised that his fake story took off. "I have a very dry sense of humor," he continued. "I deliver this information in a very matter-of-fact way. But Zod has flippers? Are you kipping me? Why would Zod have flippers? That's Aquaman or something."

So, it sounds like there will be no flippers for Zod in "Batman v Superman" after all.

Unless, he's just having fun with another reporter…