John Leguizamo has claimed he was “used as a pawn” by Sony executives to get Michael Keaton to play Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, the Romeo + Juliet actor revealed he was in talks to play the villain opposite Tom Holland’s Spider-Man after Sony’s negotiations with Keaton stalled. However, as Leguizamo was gearing up Adrian Toomes/Vulture, Keaton allegedly decided he wanted to play the character and the role was given to him.

After his comments made headlines, The Menu actor shared a screengrab of the story on Instagram and suggested Sony used him as leverage to secure Keaton.

“It’s true but I was used as a pawn to close Keaton but I should have said ‘no’because we had agreed to terms (sic)!” he wrote over the weekend. “And I had a leg to sue but I ain’t litigious.”

In his interview with ComicBook.com, Leguizamo alleged, “I was supposed to be the Vulture. 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.”

He claimed studio bosses later offered him “something tiny” and he turned it down.

In addition to 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, Keaton played Vulture in a post-credits sequence in 2022’s Morbius.

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