The NBA heart-throb Shaquille O’Neal is not a novice when it comes to superhero films. He played the lead role in 1997 movie Steel which was much before the superhero films became a dominant force at the box-office. O’Neal is now again keen to act in a superhero movie, and expressed his wish to battle Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. in an Avengers movie as well as to be a part of a Steel reboot.
“I would love to be in one of the Avengers movies,” O’Neal told Entertainment Weekly. “I would like to kick Robert Downey Jr.’s ass.” However, O’Neal didn’t specify whether he had any particular hero or villain’s character in mind that he is keen to play.
O’Neal also shared his thoughts on Steel and how he wishes to get a remake done. “It was an awesome opportunity,” O’Neal said. “However, I’d like to redo it and get some of these 2018 special effects.”
Steel was written and directed by The Bionic Woman maker Kenneth Johnson, and it was based on the DC character John Henry Irons as his alter-ego called Steel. The film was a critical and box-office failure, and it managed to earn only $1.7 million against a $16 million budget. It was one of the first films to feature a Black superhero.
O’Neal is a basketball Hall of Famer and sports analyst. He has produced four rap albums and acted in some films, many of which were made during his NBA days. O’Neal was also a major part of the 1990’s video game Shaq Fu, which is generally considered to be one of the worst games ever. O’Neal recently gave voice for Karma in 2017’s Show dogs.
