Lin-Manuel Miranda Just Revealed He Turned Down a Major MCU Villain Role, and His Reason Is Very On Brand
Marvel casting stories have become their own genre of entertainment journalism at this point, filled with actors who almost played iconic roles before scheduling conflicts, creative differences, or personal circumstances sent the part to someone else entirely.
Every few years, another one of these stories resurfaces and reshapes how fans think about a beloved film’s final casting. This week, one of Broadway’s most recognizable names added his own surprising chapter to that tradition.
Lin-Manuel Miranda has spent the past decade juggling an enormous range of creative projects, from writing and starring in ‘Hamilton’ to composing music for Disney animated features like ‘Moana’ and ‘Encanto.’ Back when ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ was first coming together, that packed schedule put him directly in the path of one of the film’s most pivotal roles, even if audiences never got to see it play out.
Miranda revealed that he actually turned down the role of Vulture in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming,’ a part that ultimately went to Michael Keaton. Miranda explained that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige called him personally and walked him through the entire plot over the phone, describing exactly what the role would require. When Miranda asked when filming would begin, Feige told him it would start basically the moment he stepped off stage from performing in ‘Hamilton.’
That timing proved to be the deciding factor. Miranda said he genuinely loved the Marvel movies and wanted to be part of one, but ultimately told Feige he would rather stay married than take on a shoot that would have had him going straight from the exhausting demands of a Broadway run into a major studio production without any real break in between. He added that he would have been badly miscast in the part anyway, framing his decision as much a creative call as a personal one.
Vulture ultimately went to Michael Keaton, whose performance as disgruntled salvage company owner turned weapons dealer Adrian Toomes became one of the most acclaimed villain turns in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Keaton has previously described the character as an ordinary, working-class guy who feels cheated by the system, a grounded quality that became central to what made the role work so well within the film’s story about a teenage Spider-Man still finding his footing.
Given how different Keaton’s gruff, blue-collar Vulture is from Miranda’s own public persona, the idea of Miranda originally being considered for the role is a genuinely surprising piece of casting history.
It also fits into a broader pattern of near-miss Spider-Man casting stories that have surfaced over the years, each offering a small glimpse into how differently these now iconic films could have turned out with a single different decision.
Miranda’s connection to the Spider-Man franchise did not end with turning down the villain role, either. He has previously discussed working with Andrew Garfield on ‘Tick, Tick… Boom!’ during the period when rumors were swirling about Garfield’s secret involvement in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home,’ adding another layer to Miranda’s ongoing, if largely behind-the-scenes, relationship with the franchise.
That history makes this latest revelation feel less like a random casting footnote and more like one more thread in a genuinely tangled web connecting Miranda to Peter Parker’s world.
Would You Have Liked To See Lin-Manuel Miranda As Vulture In 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'?
With Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise continuing to expand and Keaton’s Vulture having gone on to appear in later installments of the series, Miranda’s decision to prioritize his marriage over a demanding shoot ended up shaping the trajectory of one of the MCU’s most beloved villain performances. It is a rare glimpse into just how differently one of the genre’s most acclaimed films could have looked.
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