Leonardo DiCaprio Was The First Choice To Play Lex Luthor In Batman V Superman, Zack Snyder Reveals

Zack Snyder has revealed that he had approached Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio for the role of Lex Luthor in his 2016 movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The filmmaker, who directed three big-budget movies based on DC Comics superhero characters, said he had a meeting with DiCaprio during which the Oscar winner shared several ideas about the project. He even gave a suggestion that was later included in the movie. 

Zack Snyder approached Leonardo DiCaprio to play Lex Luthor

During his appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Snyder talked about his meeting with Leonardo DiCaprio, where he offered him the role of Lex Luthor. The filmmaker said, “He 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 and really smart about the character.”

"In a lot of ways, I think he was the one that mentioned to me this idea about Superman fighting the Justice League at some point," he added.

More about Lex Luthor in Snyderverse

The role of Lex Luthor, the arch nemesis of Superman, was eventually played by Jesse Eisenberg in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which was a follow-up to Snyder's 2013 movie Man of Steel. The director also addressed the rumours that he wanted to cast Tom Hanks or Adam Driver for the role. 

"I think I did talk to Adam on the phone, yeah," Snyder said. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice featured Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Snyder's latest movie is Netflix's Rebel Moon  Part Two: The Scargiver, the follow-up to his 2023 title Rebel Moon  Part One: A Child of Fire.

(with inputs from PTI)