John Leguizamo says he was ‘used as pawn’ to lure Michael Keaton to Spider-Man: Homecoming role

’They asked me if I would give it up,’ actor claimed

John Leguizamo has claimed he was “used as a pawn” to get Michael Keaton cast in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The actor was drafted in to play Keaton’s role of the Vulture in the Sony-Marvel production when the the latter’s deal to be in the film hit a wall.

However, Leguizamo has claimed that he was used as a “pawn” to lure Keaton back.

“I was supposed to be the Vulture,” the actor said in a new interview.

“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,” he told ComicBook.

“I said, ‘Well, OK I guess.’ That’s what happened there.”

Leguizamo said he was then offered “something tiny” as consolation, but he rejected it.

The Ice Age actor, who was most recently seen in The Menu, then doubled down on his interview claims on Instagram.

“It’s true,” he said, adding: “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.”

The Independent has contacted Sony for comment.

John Leguizamo said he was ‘used as a pawn’ to get Michael Keaton in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ (Instagram)

Keaton can currently be seen in the new trailer forThe Flash, which was released during the Super Bowl on Sunday (12 February).

In the trailer, he reprises his role of Batman, the role he originally played in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992).

Keaton appears in the footage alongside Ben Affleck’s version of the character and, if eagle-eyed sleuths are to be believed, Christian Bale’s Dark Knight character, also. The film is released on 16 June.

Keaton also reprised the role of the Vulture, whose real name is Adrian Toomes, in the critically maligned Morbius, starring Jared Leto.

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Vulture (Michael Keaton) in ‘Morbius’ (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Latin actor Leguizamo recently criticised the casting of American stars Chris Pratt and Charlie Day in the forthcoming animated Super Mario Bros movie.

Leguizamo, who played Luigi in a 1993 live-action film based on the video game, described the move as “backwards”.