Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justices Lex Luthor could have looked very different.

Director Zack Snyder stopped by the Happy Sad Confused podcast to promote the upcoming second part of his Rebel Moon films for Netflix. Over the course of the conversation, host Josh Horowitz asked him if there was any truth to the fact that the studio wanted Tom Hanks or Adam Driver for the villain role.

I think I did talk to Adam on the phone, yeah, he said of the rumored castings. Leonardo DiCaprio, I talked to him about it. While Snyder ultimately went with Jesse Eisenberg as Lex, starring opposite Henry Cavills Superman and Ben Afflecks Batman, he revealed the Titanic star had a lot of great ideas, actually, just in the meeting.

I think, in the end, he was like, Eh, I dont know. But he was really smart about the material and really smart about the character, the director shared. 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.

Snyder explored DiCaprios idea that Superman could fight his allies in both his 2017 film Justice League, as well as 2021s Zack Snyders Justice League, which was the filmmakers extended version that came in at four hours and two minutes.

Batman v Superman wasnt the first time the Killers of the Flower Moon star was in the conversation to play someone in a superhero film. David S. Goyer, who co-wrote Christopher Nolans Batman trilogy, previously told Horowitz that DiCaprio was also in talks to play a part in those films.

The screenwriter recalled in 2023, I remember after The Dark Knight, the head of Warner Bros. at the premiere said, You got to do the Riddler. Leo as the Riddler, saying to me, You got to tell Chris, Leo is the Riddler.'