With the holiday season fast approaching, fans can expect some exciting new trailers to play in front of the big releases next month as studios aim to market their major 2013 titles. We already know that the first trailer for J.J. Abrams’ sequel Star Trek Into Darkness will be playing in front of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (in addition to a 9-minute preview attached to IMAX screenings), and now it looks like fans can expect yet another new look at a big release in front of Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth.

Man of Steel director Zack Snyder has now confirmed previous reports that a new trailer for the Superman reboot will be attached to The Hobbit when it hits theaters next month, adding that he’s eager to share the “crazy” new trailer with fans. Snyder also took a moment to talk about Michael Shannon’s performance as the villain General Zod and the fact that Shannon and Henry Cavill were both completely onboard for his serious take on the material. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Speaking with MTV, Snyder talked about Shannon’s full embrace of the Zod character:

“Shannon is great, he has such great enthusiasm and dedication constantly. You can imagine that you could get actors who go, ‘Oh right, it’s Zod, it’s not 100 percent serious,’ or [you can play it] slightly with a wink, there is none of that with him. His effort is to make it realized and to understand this character and what he has to go through, so you have that on one side and you have Henry, who basically is Superman, on the other side and that dynamic.”

The director has discussed his serious approach to the material plenty of times before, and he reiterated that point when talking specifically about the lead performances:

“I was just incredibly fortunate to play with those guys who really were giving all they had to bring a level of commitment to the scenes they have together so that audiences will get an opportunity to really have their heroes taken seriously. As serious as I was taking it, and I don’t mean that from a depressing kind of way but from a, ‘This is important and fun and needs to be given the respect that it deserves,’ from that perspective it was so exciting to watch them drink the Kool-Aid of that concept and go all the way.”

Look for that new Man of Steel trailer to play in front of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey when it hits theaters on December 14th. Given that The Hobbit will be presented in 3D, and we recently got confirmation that Man of Steel is being post-converted to the format, I’ll be interested to see if the Superman trailer is in 3D as well. Man of Steel opens on June 14, 2013.