John Leguizamo, Marvel villain? The actor revealed to ComicBook.com while promoting the home release of “Violent Night” that he “negotiated” to star as the Vulture in the 2017 Marvel Cinematic Universe tentpole “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” While the role was played by Michael Keaton, apparently conversations with him went back and forth enough for Marvel to want to have another actor lined up to take on the villain role.

“I was supposed to be the Vulture,” Leguizamo said. “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.”

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According to Leguizamo, the studio “offered him something tiny” as a consolation for him giving up the larger role of Vulture. “I went, ‘Nuh uh,'” the actor said.

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In a follow-up post on Instagram, Leguizamo said, “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.”

Keaton starred as Vulture opposite Tom Holland in “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” which was the first Marvel movie to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Sony struck a deal to share the character with Disney. The film grossed $880 million at the worldwide box office.

“Keaton brings all the sinister, gnashing personality you could want to the role, though the movie should have given him more to do,” Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote in his “Spider-Man: Homecoming” review. “It does, however, provide the character with a good twist, when he shows up where you least expect him.

While Keaton’s run in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ended with “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” he did reprise his Vulture character last year in Sony’s Jared Leto-starring “Morbius.” The movie left the door open for Keaton to continue playing the character, but it’s uncertain if the storyline will continue after “Morbius'” grossed a disappointing $167 million worldwide.

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