In 1997, Leonardo DiCaprio starred in James Cameron’s Titanic. Since then, he has portrayed many different roles in a wide variety of films, several of which have become successful, such as The Revenant and The Wolf of Wall Street.
However, many people might not know that DiCaprio was once in consideration for portraying Marvel’s Spider-Man in James Cameron’s unmade film.
A deepfake video of DiCaprio as Spider-Man recently surfaced on the internet, which has got the fandom divided. Some fans believe that he would make a good fit, while others think he is too old to play the character.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Spider-Man deepfake video sparks mixed reactions from Twitteratis
Following Leonardo DiCaprio’s Spider-Man deepfake video surfacing on the internet, many fans wondered whether he would be a good fit for the character or not. Some fans believed that had the actor been younger, he would have been a good fit for the role. Twitter user @MyTimeToShineHello wrote:
“He was so beautiful once. Now he looks like a fat hamster.”
Moreover, his acting range proves he could’ve slipped into the role of a nerdy teenage kid easily. If anyone has followed DiCaprio’s career for a long time, they will know how versatile he is in the roles he plays and how he plays them to perfection.
Meanwhile, the other side of the fandom believes that despite his age and chubbiness, Leonardo DiCaprio would still make a good Peter Parker if it ever came down to it. Some contested that he could play the character if the portrayal was similar to the Peter B. Parker version from the animated Spider-Verse film series.
A few fans have also thought that he was too good-looking or pretty to play a character that is not known for his good looks, let alone have them.
As for the reactions to James Cameron’s whole idea for a Spider-Man film, other details about the film have circulated online, including its R rating. Some fans had divisive responses, and they believed that it would be a really good movie.
Other fans were relieved that it was not made as they considered it to be one of the worst ideas ever, especially with Cameron’s edgy and grittier take, which did not suit Spider-Man’s entire character.
What James Cameron and Leonardo DiCaprio’s unmade Spider-Man film would have looked like?
In 1998, James Cameron planned to make a film based on Spider-Man, a project that was developed by Menahem Golan of Cannon Films. Columbia Pictures then had David Koepp develop the script with Cameron in the directorial position.
However, the director later revealed during The Howard Stern Show that Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in his film Titanic, was the primary contender for the lead role. Besides him, Charlie Sheen and Edward Furlong auditioned for the lead role.
James Cameron’s Spider-Man Concept Art (Image via Teako170)
Cameron later submitted a treatment to Carolco Pictures, which received Spider-Man‘s theatrical rights. The treatment featured a more mature, darker take on the character’s mythos.
In the director’s unmade Spider-Man film, the villains would have been Electro and Sandman, who were reimagined from their comic-book versions. The former was a megalomaniacal businessman named Carlton Strand, while the latter was his personal bodyguard, Boyd. In the story, Electro would have attempted to recruit Spider-Man to his team of powerful beings. The film would have also reportedly featured heavy profanity.
However, the film’s rights were bought by Sony Pictures Entertainment, who decided not to use Cameron’s script nor hire him to direct the film. After a long search, Sam Raimi was eventually chosen to direct the film, with David Koepp as the screenplay writer.
Leonardo DiCaprio also left the project, as he did not want to star in a superhero movie after having filmed Titanic. The actor, however, reportedly played a part in getting his closest friend Tobey Maguire to bag the lead role by putting in a good word for him. Moreover, Raimi chose to cast Maguire after being impressed by his performance in The Cider House Rules. And the rest is history.
