Leonardo DiCaprio almost starred as an iconic supervillain in the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) despite previously telling Timothee Chalamet to stay away from superhero movies.

The 49-year-old actor was in talks to portray Lex Luthor in 2016’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice according to filmmaker Zack Snyder.

The 58-year-old Zack Snyder’s Justice League director said that both Leo and Adam Driver were up for consideration before the role ultimately went to Jesse Eisenberg.

Zack appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast as he said: ‘I think I did talk to Adam on the phone, yeah. Leonardo DiCaprio, I talked to him about it.’

If DiCaprio went through with the role it would have seen him sharing the screen with an all-star cast including: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gado, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, and Holly Hunter.

Zack said that Leo ‘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.’

The revelation comes at an interesting time as back in 2022, Timothée Chalamet revealed the career advice that was given to him by fellow actor Leo as one thing he said was to stay away from that genre of blockbuster film altogether.

Gracing British Vogue’s October 2022 issue as the first ever solo male cover star, he shared the expert knowledge that the Hollywood long timer told him.

The now 28-year-old star detailed his ‘delusional dream’ to become an actor as he recalled his rise to fame and first encounter with Leo.

Timothée starred alongside Leo in last years dark comedy hit, Don’t Look Up, but shed light on the duo first meeting back in 2018.

The actor revealed that Leo simply told him: ‘No hard drugs and no superhero movies.’

Adam Driver (pictured in December) was also up for consideration

Zack said that Leo (pictured in May 2023) ‘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.

The revelation comes at an interesting time as back in 2022, Timothée Chalamet revealed the career advice that was given to him by fellow actor Leo as one thing he said was to stay away from that genre of blockbuster film altogether: ‘No hard drugs and no superhero movies’

Timothée previously cited his role models as Jennifer Lawrence, Michael B. Jordan and Leo, so far appearing to take the stars advice very seriously.

Perhaps Leo made the smart move to avoid the flick as Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice was met with mixed reviews by critics.

It was also considered a disappointment at the box office as it grossed $330.36million domestically with a worldwide total of $874.36 worldwide with a $250million budget.