11 Criminally Underrated Superheroes Hollywood Totally Ruined

8. Steel

When Superman temporarily kicked the bucket in 1993, John Henry Irons was by far the best candidate for his replacement.

A Man of Steel fan through and through, Irons was put on the path to superheroism by Superman's death. Adopting the famed 'S' and fashioning a suit of armour from his days in AmerTek, Irons enjoyed a long running series in the nineties, completing his comic book career with a short but fondly remembered stint on Grant Morrison's Justice League. Steel, featuring Shaquille O'Neal in the titular role was not, however, a highlight, and lays a pretty strong claim for the mantle of worst comic book film too.

What makes Steel so categorically terrible isn't just that it had Shaq in the main role, but that it also decided to completely ignore pretty much all of its source material. The film did its own thing, and subsequently wound up as both a critical and financial disaster, leaving the character to languish in live action limbo.

It's not all bad though, as the character received some relative attention in the DC Animated Universe. Perhaps a DCEU appearance is on the cards later down the line?