John Leguizamo claims that Sony used him to get Michael Keaton’s interest for the popular Spider-Man: Homecoming movie.
John Leguizamo has likely seen and done it all in a career that spans over 160 roles. In last year’s superb The Menu, he even toys with that veteran status, playing a version of himself that is a cynical by-product of the Hollywood machine.
The actor has pointed at one specific case in point, where he claims the producers of Spider-Man: Homecoming used him to lure in a standoffish Michael Keaton, Sony’s first choice to play the film’s antagonist, The Vulture.
“I was supposed to be the Vulture,” Leguizamo told ComicBook. “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 … That’s what happened there”.
The actor claims he was offered something else instead but it was ‘tiny’ so he refused it. Leguizamo would later take to social media to double down on the claim. “It’s true but I was used as a pawn to close Keaton but I should have said ‘no’ because we had agreed to terms! And I had a leg to sue but I ain’t litigious” Leguizamo shared on Instagram.
The actor’s claims offer a brief insight into the unsavoury tactics employed by producers to get their way. It looks like Keaton has managed to spin the Vulture character off into more films as well, if his cameo at the end of Morbius is of any meaning. That’s likely a fair old chunk of change that Leguizamo missed out on, not to mention a fun role. If those claims are true, then tut tut, Sony.
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