29 years later, DC’s weirdest Superman movie has aged like milk

In the early 90s, DC Comics did the unthinkable and killed off Superman. Clark Kent was officially dead in the DC canon, leaving a literal power vacuum. But in the aftermath, four different characters stepped up to take his place. SteelCyborg Superman, The Eradicator and Superboy all seemed to fill Superman’s boots. Obviously, it wouldn’t be long before the real Superman would return, but the four would stay Supermen still appear in various DC properties to this day. However, only one of them got his own live-action solo movie. And that was strange.

The 1997s Steel starred Shaquille O’Neal in the title role as an armored vigilante looking to clean up the streets of Los Angeles. It would be only his second starring role after 1996’s Kazaamand O’Neal’s status as an NBA superstar made scheduling difficult as he had to play in the 1996 Summer Olympics and train with the Lakers throughout production. Ray J plays his precocious young wannabe sidekick, the film’s big bad is Judd Nelson, and O’Neal even contributed a track to the film’s soundtrack alongside KRS-One, Ice Cube, B-Real and Peter Gunz.

But perhaps the most confusing thing about Steel is that despite being based on a Superman derivative, there are seemingly no connections to any larger DC universe throughout the film. Despite opening with a title card, “Based on characters published by DC Comics,” there is basically no DC content to be found anywhere in the 97-minute runtime. And that was exactly what the director wanted.

Steel is a superman movie that is anything but super

When Steel writer/director Kenneth Johnson was approached about the project, he was hesitant to return to the superhero genre, having worked on titles such as The Incredible Hulk and The bionic woman. “I’ve always rejected (comic book movies),” Johnson said Steel‘s production notes. “Because I didn’t want to deal with childish characters in funny costumes… I said if I could lose the comic book cape, maybe I could make it work.” Johnson got his wish, giving a take on the character that feels completely separate from his comic book origins.

In the comics, Steelaka John Henry Irons, is a weapons manufacturer and engineering genius who is rescued by Superman during a construction accident. So when Doomsday seemingly kills Superman, Irons decides it’s up to him to take Clark Kent’s place. He builds a full-body suit of armor meant to replicate Superman’s powers, complete with a flowing red cape and the iconic “S” emblem emblazoned across his chest.

Film John Henry Irons is a similarly gifted engineer, but he only gets into crime fighting when he finds out that the laser rifles he had developed for the military were being smuggled into the hands of street gangs. His suit doesn’t have an “S”, there’s no cape, and it looks more like a clunky medieval knight cosplay than the slim comics fans would have been familiar with.

Considering the extent of Death of Superman arc in the comicsthe message of the film Steel’sorigin the story feels underwhelming and almost picturesque in comparison. And the removal of any DC symbolism begs the question of whether this was supposed to be a Superman-adjacent film in the first place.

Rusted steel

DC hero and Superman ally John Henry Irons aka Steel

Upon release, Steel was a massive bomb at the box office, grossing approximately $1.7 million of one $16 million budget. And time has not been kind to the film over the years as it currently has a viewership rating of 19% Rotten tomatoes and a critic rating of only 4%.

Today, it would be hard to imagine a studio green-lighting a film based on one of the most famous intellectual properties in history, only to ignore that IP. Steel is the perfect example of why this is a bad idea. While ostensibly trying to be a DC Comics movie and a generic standalone action movie, Steel fails on both counts.