Steel Remake Reportedly In Development, Jamie Foxx Eyed To Star

In the long history of DC movies, 1997’s Steel is far from the company’s finest hour. Starring Shaquille O’Neal in the title role as John Henry Irons, the film’s a poorly-made, badly-acted mess that ignores the superhero’s place in the DC universe. However, with the genre coming such a long way since then, and Warner Bros. having created a shared comic book film franchise in the form of the DCEU, could now be the time to attempt a Steel remake? Apparently, yes.

We Got This Covered has heard from our sources – the same ones who said a Swamp Thing movie is in development and that the leads in Ghostbusters 3 would be young teens, both of which have since been confirmed – that a Steel remake is in the works at WB. What’s more, Jame Foxx is one actor being eyed to play Irons in the movie and while we don’t know of any other casting or plot details just yet, our sources are confident that the project is in development.

Going by the old film alone, it might seem ridiculous that DC want to do another Steel, but there’s actually a lot of potential in the comics character that the 1997 flick completely sidestepped. On the page, for instance, Irons is inspired by Superman and builds himself a mechanical suit of armor, paired with his trusty sledge hammer. You can immediately see how Steel bears a similarity to a certain popular Marvel hero and he’d also be another much needed non-white male hero in the DCEU.

Steel’s been a prominent member of the Superman family since the 1990s as well, so this film could factor into WB’s plans to reboot the Superman mythos within the franchise. There’s a Supergirl movie on the way, for one, with it rumored that J.J. Abrams could be helming a new Supes flick with a new actor replacing Henry Cavill. Fans would love to see the Superman family come together on the big screen and this would certainly fit right into that.

But it’s way too early to say for sure what WB are planning by introducing Steel into the DCEU. For now, all we know is that the project is in development, with Jamie Foxx being eyed. It’s unclear if he’s actually been approached yet, but once we learn more, we’ll be sure to let you know.