DC Superman sidekick Steel is shaken up by Star Trek’s Michael Dorn

Michael Dorn from “Star Trek” voiced the first TV version of the superhero Steel in two episodes of “Star Trek”. Superman: The Animated Series, and I wouldn’t blame him for forgetting. The show was filmed a quarter of a century ago (aired following the 1997 release of Shaquille O’Neal). steel movie) and Dorn has been busy developing his best-known role as Worf in recent seasons star trek: Deep Space Nine.

But when DC Comics approached the actor, Dorn absolutely remembered the role, he says. “It stands out because he’s a black character.”

This June DC will release steel mills, a new series written by Dorn and drawn by Sami Basri centering on John Henry Irons, the engineer who built his own super suit to protect Metropolis after Superman’s death. Like Iron Man if he wasn’t an asshole. For Dorn, the series is all about the superhero John And

Dorn told Polygon that despite Steel’s rarity as a black superhero role in the 1990s, he remembered the role superman Voiceover appearance due to his own vivid memories of American folklore figure John Henry, particularly in George Pal’s rather haunting 1946 stop-motion retelling.

“John Henry was this guy who could drill railroad spikes faster than anyone, and he goes against the machine.” Dorn said, “He hits the machine, but he dies doing it.” As a kid, he remembered being John Henry’s Death was disappointing and unsettling, and only later came to appreciate the legend’s enduring theme, namely the necessity and dangers of fighting more metaphorical machines.

“No machine can beat a man,” declares John Henry in Pal’s summary, “once a man has a mind he can beat this machine.” For his John Henry Irons, Dorn says, the machine is – the competitor John must preferably without getting lost in the process – his own supersuit.

steel mills begins with John Irons being exactly where recent Superman comics have put him: CEO of tech giant Steelworks, revealing his blueprint for the future of Metropolis. But John’s plans may not live up to the expectations of readers, commoners, or even the superfamily. Namely, that he wants to try it without a suit (of course, that’s exactly when a vengeful super-criminal sets his sights on Irons, his loved ones, and his company).

Image: Mikel Janín/DC Comics

Dorn says if there’s one thing he wants to convey to readers, it’s “to give them a sense that this is going to be different.” It’ll be in the wheelhouse — we won’t see him transition into a fashion designer or anything something developed. But we’ll see twists there that we’ve probably never seen before. I’ve delved into the comics and found that they have a certain feel that I just want to tweak a bit. Not that far away [readers] “What the hell are we doing here?” But just the idea of ​​people looking and saying, ‘Oh look at that!’ Yes, it’s beautiful, but did you see what he said?’”

Dorn, who has long harbored creative ambitions beyond acting, seems delighted with the making of the film steel mills, from working with Basri to get the characters onto the site, to getting feedback and guidance from DC editors. But he’s also just delighted with his first official recognition as an author.

“I’ve written maybe four or five scripts and people liked my writing and blah blah blah blah, but nothing came of it. the big thing [about Steelworks] That means I’m a paid writer,” he said, laughing. Gone are the days of conversations saying, “Oh, I’m a writer.” “What have you done?” “Oh, nothing, but I’m writing.”

“No,” Dorn said, laughing. As he puts it, his new reply will be, “‘Written by Michael Dorn.’ And we sent him money.”

steel mills #1 will go on sale on June 6th.