Leonardo DiCaprio Almost Played This Classic DC Villain In Batman V Superman
Remember Jesse Eisenberg's performance as Lex Luthor in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice"? Sure you do. It's a big, over-the-top take on a classic villain, with Eisenberg deciding to go kind of crazy playing the evil billionaire (at one point, he ominously offers someone a Jolly Rancher). I don't think you can call it a good performance, but I guess it's pretty darn memorable. I mean, how can you forget such a bananas take on a memorable character? I think when Eisenberg was cast we all assumed he'd play the character like he played another evil billionaire: Mark Zuckerberg. But that's not what happened. Instead, Eisenberg played Lex like a giant toddler who occasionally blows people up. It was wild.
As it turns out, things could've been mighty different. While appearing on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast (via ScreenRant), "Batman v Superman" director Zack Snyder revealed that an even bigger star was in consideration for the part. And if you read the headline of this article you know who it was: Leonardo DiCaprio. While DiCaprio ultimately passed on the role (rather than being turned down by Snyder), it sounds like he was at least receptive to the character and brought some ideas to the meeting.
A lot of great ideas
During his podcast appearance, Snyder confirmed that he did indeed talk with DiCaprio about playing Lex Luthor. As Snyder put it, "I think DiCaprio had a lot of great ideas, actually, just in the meeting. I think in the end, he was like, 'Eh, I don't know...' but he was really smart about the material." If you're wondering what some of DiCaprio's ideas were in the meeting, Snyder elaborated further, stating: "I think he was the one that mentioned to me this idea about Superman fighting the Justice League at some point and I was like, 'Oh, that's cool.'"
Now, I'm not entirely sure what to make of that statement. Is Snyder implying that the whole reason he ended up making a "Justice League" movie is because Leonardo DiCaprio suggested the idea? That sounds ... unlikely. Still, the thought of DiCaprio playing Lex Luthor is intriguing. It's all but certain that he would've played the character in a much, much different manner than Jesse Eisenberg. Perhaps DiCaprio's Lex would be closer to Calvin Candie from "Django Unchained," one of the few villain characters DiCaprio has played in his career. Or Perhaps DiCaprio would've done something completely different. But in the end, DiCaprio clearly didn't want the part.
As for the future of Lex Luthor, Nicholas Hoult is set to play the character in James Gunn's "Superman," due out July 11, 2025.