Michael Keaton returned to the world of comic book movies in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, where he starred as the villain Adrian Toomes/Vulture. But it seems we almost had a different actor take up this role as during a recent interview with ComicBook.com, John Leguizamo claims he was once up for the part and almost landed the role before the iconic Keaton stepped in.
While promoting the home video release of Violent Night, Leguizamo dropped the bomb that he was almost Spider-Man’s first MCU foe, with the actor revealing he’d gone as far as negotiating with Marvel for the role. That’s when Keaton stepped in, and Marvel began to switch up the plans.
Leguizamo says, “I was supposed to be the Vulture. 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 studio did try “offered him something tiny,” but Leguizamo says he didn’t want consolation for losing out on Vulture, which he adds: “I went, ‘Nuh-uh.’”
Spider-Man: Homecoming would make $880 million at the worldwide box office, along with stellar reviews, which led to a trilogy of Spider-Man MCU entries. Keaton would later reprise his Vulture character in Sony’s Jared Leto-starring Morbius which was released last year.
SEE ALSO: John Leguizamo says people prefer his Super Mario Bros. movie to the upcoming animated film
Leguizamo closed out 2022 with two great performances, one in the action-horror film Violent Night and the other in Mark Mylod’s satire The Menu.
