Warner Bros. would leave Clark Kent out of their reinterpretation of the origin story for his 1997 self-titled film, starring NBA star Shaquille O’Neal in the title role, which was a colossal failure both critically and commercially.
Steel is too cool a character, in my opinion, to let that film be his only big screen legacy and casting Sterling K. Brown would be the first step toward improvement… with all due respect to Shaq, that is.
The shocking death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday inspired a ballistics expert named John Henry Irons to don a high-tech suit of armor, construct an impenetrable sledgehammer, and adopt the Man of Steel moniker – until he shortened it to “Steel” upon Superman’s resurrection.