Shaquille O’Neal has played professional basketball, recorded rap albums, worked extensively in television and already starred in one superhero movie. Marvel’s Avengers, however, apparently proved harder to crack.
The NBA Hall of Famer told Variety that he tried to land a place in an Avengers movie but was turned down because his celebrity was considered too distracting. The concern, as O’Neal remembered it, was that audiences would immediately recognize Shaq instead of accepting him as a fictional character.
“I wanted to be in the Avengers,” O’Neal recalled, before quoting the response: “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!’” His conclusion was characteristically simple: “I guess my face is too bigtime.”
O’Neal did not identify which Avengers installment was involved, what character he hoped to play or when the conversation took place. His interest in Marvel was hardly secret, though, he was publicly asking for an Avengers role as far back as 2018.
Shaq Says Marvel Thought Audiences Would Only See Shaq
O’Neal said the rejection was delivered honestly. The problem was not that Marvel disliked him, by his account, the people involved believed his fame would overpower whatever role they gave him.
That issue has followed the 7-foot-1 former NBA star into other parts of Hollywood. O’Neal told Variety that executives have described him as “too big,” clarifying that they were talking about the size of his public identity rather than only his physical stature. “If I’m trying to play a doctor or anything, my character won’t be believable,” he said.
PEOPLE reported that O’Neal still wants more action roles despite that obstacle. His existing filmography often gets around the problem by allowing him either to play himself or characters that lean into the audience’s familiarity with Shaq.
He Was Asking for an ‘Avengers’ Role Back in 2018
O’Neal’s Marvel ambitions were public years before he revealed that he had actually been rejected. In a 2018 Entertainment Weekly interview later quoted by ComicBook.com, he said, “I would love to be in one of the Avengers movies.” He already had an opponent picked out. “I would like to kick Robert Downey Jr.’s ass,” O’Neal joked.
That particular matchup never happened while Downey was playing Tony Stark. The actor’s Marvel story has since taken another turn, Marvel lists Downey among the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, which is scheduled for Dec. 18, 2026.
He Is Still Getting Movie Roles, Just Not the Marvel Kind
Being instantly recognizable has not kept O’Neal away from acting altogether. His screen career stretches back decades and includes comedies, cameos and roles built around his outsized personality, while 2026 has given him more Hollywood work.
PEOPLE reported that O’Neal made a cameo in Scary Movie earlier this year and is also part of the upcoming Grown Ups 3. He is expected to reprise Officer Fluzoo, the character he played in Grown Ups 2, alongside returning cast members including Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James and David Spade.
Shaq Already Got His Superhero Movie With ‘Steel’
Marvel would not have been O’Neal’s first experience playing a comic-book hero. He starred as John Henry Irons in the 1997 DC movie Steel, playing a former weapons engineer who constructs a suit of armor and becomes a vigilante.
The official DC listing credits O’Neal alongside Annabeth Gish, Richard Roundtree and Judd Nelson in the Kenneth Johnson-directed film. O’Neal was also one of the movie’s producers.
Now He Wants an Action Movie With Dwayne Johnson
If Marvel remains out of reach, O’Neal already has another potential opponent in mind. He told Variety that one of his current movie goals is working with Dwayne Johnson, preferably in a story that lets Shaq win the fight.
“I want to do a movie with The Rock so I can beat him up,” O’Neal said. Asked whether he believed he could actually take Johnson, he answered, “Oh, easy! Barbecue chicken.”
The comments came as O’Neal promotes another project built around the skill that first made him famous. He is the founder and commissioner of Dunkman, billed as the first professional league devoted entirely to competitive dunking.
The league’s inaugural World Championship is scheduled for Aug. 25 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT and HBO Max. Eight finalists will compete at Atlanta’s Overtime Elite Arena for a $500,000 championship prize.