Zack Snyder has revealed Leonardo DiCaprio was one of the actors considered for the Lex Luthor role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but it didn't go beyond a discussion.
Snyder let slip on the latest episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast that, at one point, he had separate conversations with both Adam Driver and DiCaprio about playing supervillain Lex Luthor in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. However, they didn't pursue the role, and it ended up going to Jesse Eisenberg.
"I think I did talk to Adam on the phone, yeah," Snyder recalled, adding, "Leonardo DiCaprio, I talked to him about it. He had a lot of great ideas, actually, just in the meeting. I think, in the end, he was just like, 'Eh, you know, I don't know.' But he was really smart about the material and really smart about the character."
According to Snyder, DiCaprio is "a comic book guy," and while he hasn't taken up any comic book roles yet, he has a lot of ideas on the subject — one of which he contributed to Justice League. "I think he was the one that mentioned to me this idea about Superman fighting the Justice League at some point," the filmmaker shared.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice marked the first time Batman and Superman starred in a live-action film together, and it also introduced audiences to modern film versions of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), in addition to Eisenberg's "complicated" villain.
Justice League stars the returning cast of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with Eisenberg making his final appearance as Luthor in the epilogue of Zack Snyder's Justice League. However, the character will return to the big screen next year as Nicholas Hoult has taken up the role in James Gunn's Superman.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter @AdeleAnkers.
