John Leguizamo almost played Vulture in 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' before being replaced by Michael Keaton
Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic
- John Leguizamo almost played Michael Keaton's character in "Spider-Man: Homecoming."
- The "Birdman" star said he was asked to pass on the role after Keaton wanted to be involved again.
- "They asked me if I would give it up. I said, 'Well, okay I guess,'" Leguizamo told ComicBook.com.
John Leguizamo revealed in a new interview that he almost played the villain in the 2017 film "Spider-Man: Homecoming," but lost out on the role to Michael Keaton.
"I was supposed to be the Vulture," Leguizamo told ComicBook.com's Chris Killian. "We had negotiated and I was about to play him, and they said that Michael Keaton wanted it back and they asked me if I would give it up. I said, 'Well, okay I guess.'"
"They said, 'No, we'll work with you again, we're gonna...' That's what happened there," the actor added.
According to Leguizamo, filmmakers ultimately offered him a "tiny" part in a follow-up project.
"I went, 'Nuh uh,'" Leguizamo said in the interview.
Keaton, who played superhero Bruce Wayne/Batman in 1989's "Batman" and 1992's "Batman Returns," ended up playing Adrian Toomes/Vulture in the 2017 Spider-Man film. In the story, his character faces off against Tom Holland's Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Robert Downey Jr., Donald Glover, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Zendaya also starred in "Spider-Man: Homecoming."
Leguizamo, for his part, recently starred in the 2022 Christmas action movie "Violent Night." David Harbour of "Stranger Things" fame played Santa in the film, while Leguizamo played Scrooge, a murderous villain holding a Connecticut family hostage.