By Leguizamo’s account, the powers that be at Marvel actually all but hired him while Keaton was out of the picture, then asked him to step away once the actor returned. “They asked me if I would give it up and I said, ‘Well, okay I guess,'” the actor tells ComicBook.com, looking a little baffled even as he recalls the moment years later. “‘They said, no, we’ll work with you again, we’re gonna!'” he recalls someone from Marvel telling him, but the lack of Marvel Cinematic Universe roles in Leguizamo’s filmography speaks for itself. When asked about what happened to the offer for a future role, the actor says, “They offered me something tiny, and I’m going, ‘Nuh-uh!'”
While the actor doesn’t actually say anything particularly disparaging about Marvel or Keaton here, this sounds like an unorthodox situation that would no doubt be frustrating and disheartening. According to the reporting from Variety at the time, Keaton’s discussions initially stalled when Robert Downey Jr. was added to the cast, with Marvel allegedly not able or willing to pay the price tags for both stars. Of course, Keaton did end up in the film, meaning everyone at the negotiating table ended up with a wage they could live with — but Leguizamo ended up outside of that table altogether.