*Shaquille O’Neal, the NBA legend who once suited up as a DC superhero, says his larger-than-life fame helped shut the door on one of his biggest Hollywood ambitions: joining Marvel’s “Avengers.”
O’Neal says he spent years trying to get into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, only to hear that the very thing making him valuable as a celebrity — instant recognition — would make it difficult for audiences to believe him as someone else.
Speaking with Variety for an interview tied to his new professional dunking league, “Dunkman,” Shaq explained that Hollywood executives have repeatedly raised the same concern when he pursues acting roles that are not simply versions of himself.
“I would love to do more action roles but we were told by top Hollywood executives that I’m too big, and what they mean by that is when I pop up on the screen everyone will go, ‘Oh, that’s Shaq!’” O’Neal said. “So, if I’m trying to play a doctor or anything, my character won’t be believable.”
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Marvel Loved Shaq — Just Not Enough for ‘Avengers’
O’Neal, 54, said that same problem followed him when he tried to land a spot in an “Avengers” movie.
“I wanted to be in the ‘Avengers’ and they were like, ‘Shaq, we fuckin’ love you and we’d love to put you in, but if your face pops up on screen people are going to go, ‘Hey, that’s Shaq!’” he recalled.
The explanation apparently landed.
“He said it truthfully, and I was like, alright… I guess my face is too bigtime.”
Shaq had publicly expressed interest in joining the “Avengers” universe years earlier. Entertainment Weekly reported in 2018 that he was openly campaigning for a role, so this was not some passing celebrity wish tossed out during a promotional interview.
The MCU opportunity never materialized, and O’Neal will not appear in the upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday.”
Shaq Has Already Been a Superhero
The Marvel rejection carries an extra layer of irony because Shaq already has superhero experience on his résumé.
He starred as John Henry Irons in the 1997 DC film “Steel,” playing a weapons designer who creates a high-tech armored suit and becomes the title hero. The movie did not launch a long-running superhero franchise for O’Neal, but it permanently connected him to comic-book movie history.
EURweb has also previously covered Shaq’s enduring Superman connection, including his affection for the character and the Superman imagery that has followed him throughout his public life.
His acting career has continued alongside basketball, broadcasting, business ventures and music. Variety notes that O’Neal recently appeared in a cameo in this year’s “Scary Movie” and is also set to appear in “Grown Ups 3.”
Still, the typecasting problem he describes is unusually specific: Shaq is not saying Hollywood does not know who he is. He is saying Hollywood knows exactly who he is — perhaps too well.
If Marvel Won’t Call, Shaq Wants The Rock
With his “Avengers” hopes apparently behind him, O’Neal already has another action-movie target in mind.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
“I want to do a movie with The Rock so I can beat him up,” Shaq declared.
Asked whether he really believes he could take Johnson, O’Neal did not exactly struggle with the answer.
“Oh, easy! Barbecue chicken.”
It is classic Shaq: part challenge, part joke and completely on brand for a man whose personality has remained almost as outsized as his basketball legacy.
Meanwhile, his latest sports venture keeps him closer to the game that first made him famous. “Dunkman,” billed as the first professional dunking league, brings competitors from around the world together for a $500,000 grand prize, with its finals airing Aug. 25 on TNT.
Fame Became the Role Shaq Couldn’t Escape
There is something almost backwards about O’Neal’s Hollywood problem.
Most aspiring actors spend years trying to become recognizable. Shaq says he became so recognizable that executives worry viewers cannot stop seeing him long enough to accept the character.
That may have cost him his shot at the Avengers, but O’Neal does not sound interested in retreating from Hollywood altogether.
And if Marvel’s superheroes are off the table, there is always that proposed showdown with The Rock.
Judging by Shaq’s “barbecue chicken” prediction, he has already written the ending.
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