Shaquille O’Neal has been in his share of TV shows and movies over the years. And while this was not a film that received a ton of praise when it was released, O’Neal became a superhero in the 1997 film Steel. PopCulture.com recently caught up with O’Neal who looked back on the film and teased rebooting it for a new generation.
“Well, if you look at the Steel character, it’s me,” O’Neal told PopCulture. “It’s all me, John Henry Irons is me. You know, when we did the movie, I would have liked to have those Iron Man effects, but nah, we did the movie in the early ’90s, and technology wasn’t as it is now, but I would love to be able to do a redo of that.”
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Steel made his debut in DC comics in 1993 and was looking to replace Superman when Doomsday killed him. However, after Superman was resurrected, Steel became an ally. Along with O’Neal playing the character in 1997, Wole Parks portrays him in the television series Superman & Lois.
The movie only made $1.7 million in the box office and earned a 12% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, CinemaScore gave the movie a grade of “B” on an A+ to F scale. O’Neal believes that with the technology used in movies now that Steel could be a movie that fans will enjoy.
“Same effects that they use in the movies, that they use now,” O’Neal said. “I think it would be much better appreciated, but… You know, you’re a comic book guy, I can tell. When Superman died, he came back as seven different people. I got John Henry Irons, if you look at all the comics, that was me.”
Steel is not in the lineup for the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), which started in 2013 with the Superman movie Man of Steel. The last DCEU film was in August with The Suicide Squad. DCEU has four films set to be released next year, including Black Adam, The Flash, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and Batgirl. If those movies are successful, it’s possible that O’Neal could get his wish and have Steel make a comeback.
