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5 Greatest Comic Book Movie Roles Leonardo DiCaprio Almost Played

Leonardo DiCaprio as Spider-Man Image Source
Should Leonardo DiCaprio play a superhero? It seems everyone wants him to do a comic book movie. Even Stan Lee, creator of Spider-Man and a bunch of heroes, wants DiCaprio in a superhero suit. Stan Lee once said, "Leo NEEDS to be a superhero."

So why hasn't DiCaprio played a superhero? He thinks superhero movies are career-killers. When Zac Efron was offered the role of Superman, Leonardo DiCaprio told him to stay away from it. This is really surprising since his father, George DiCaprio, is a well-known underground comic book writer.

Recently, DiCaprio said he might play a comic book character in the future. "You never know," DiCaprio said, "You never know. They're getting better and better as far as complex characters in these movies. I haven't yet. But no, I don't rule out anything."

Here's the list of comic book characters Leonardo DiCaprio almost played.

1. Robin in Batman Forever (1995)
When director Joel Schumacher set out to ruin the Batman franchise, he tried to enlist Leonardo DiCaprio to play Batman's sidekick Robin. But he never screen-tested. DiCaprio remembered, "I had a meeting with Joel Schumacher. It was just one meeting, and, no, I didn't end up doing it."

DiCaprio turned down the role of Robin saying "I don't think I was ready for anything like that.
The role went to Chris O'Donnell and he starred in that film, and the sequel Batman and Robin, which became the most important superhero movie ever.

2. Spider-Man in Spider-Man (2002)
When Sony set out to make a Spider-Man movie they offered the role of Peter Parker to Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio turned it down saying, "That was another one of those situations, similar to Robin, where I didn't feel ready to put on that suit yet."

In the end, the script changed hands and Sam Raimi hired Tobey McGuire.

3. Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
There was a lot of hype surrounding Captain America's first solo movie and a ton of actors were in the running. Among the list of hot actors the studio wanted for the role was Leonardo DiCaprio as Captain America. The role went to Chris Evans.

4. The Riddler in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
When Warner Bros. was developing the second sequel to Batman Returns, they really, really wanted DiCaprio to play the supervillian Riddler. According to writer David Goyer, WB said, "'Obviously it’s gonna be The Riddler, and we want it to be Leonardo DiCaprio." In the end, the filmmakers opted to feature Bane (Tom Hardy) instead of Riddler and DiCaprio went to the side.

5. Villain in The Secret Service (2014)
Leonardo DiCaprio was in the short-list of actors to play the unnamed villain in Matthew Vaughn's adaptation of Mark Millar's The Secret Service. The role ended up going to Samuel L. Jackson.

This post is part of the The Lamb Acting School 101: Leonardo DiCaprio blog hop hosted by Cinema Axis.

What do you think about Leonardo DiCaprio taking these roles? Is there a comic book character you think he should play? If so, why?


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  1. Seriously? He was almost Spider-Man? How did I NOT know this?

  2. Although not a comic book movie, If they ever make a Legend of Zelda movie I think he could do that.

  3. i am glad he turned down all of them... just cause i don't care for his acting chops...

  4. Funny, I never saw him as a super hero. It's always interesting to see what roles actors might have taken. I think I'd prefer seeing him stay away from those kinds of roles.

  5. Maybe they should have cast him as Batman. Maybe. Leo would make a great Aquaman.

  6. He shoulda been the new Batman.

  7. I'd like to see him as SHE HULK.


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