Fans refer to Leonardo DiCaprio as the last real movie star. Leo is selective with the roles that he takes and unlike a lot of A-listers, he only works a project a year. Quintin Tarantino touched base on the said statement, "He kind of stands alone today, like Al Pacino or Robert De Niro were in the Seventies, where they weren’t trying to do two movies a year,” he said. “They could do anything they wanted, and they wanted to do this. So that means this must be pretty good.”
Despite the fact that he's the most popular and accomplished actor on the planet nowadays, DiCaprio admits things weren't always as smooth and early on, he felt like the outsider, to a degree, he still feels that "I think I will always feel like an outsider. Marty [Scorsese] was the same. He came from the streets of New York and didn’t feel like he belonged in Hollywood. I can remember getting rejected systematically by casting directors as a young kid. I felt like the biggest outsider there ever was; that I’d never belong in that club. I had this idea that one day they reach out, bless you and say: “You are now part of this elite, you are the chosen one.”
Given his obvious talent, DiCaprio has been in the position to turn down some iconic roles. He is yet to dawn any sort of cape, however, the offers were there. Let's take a look at why he said no to both the MCU and DC.
Robin & Spider-Man
Leo took a meeting with Joel Schumacher in regards to Batman Forever. Rumors of Robin emerged. As if that wasn't crazy enough to turn down, Leo would also say no to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man prior to its launch. When it comes to Batman, Leo simply stated that the timing wasn't right, "I never screen-tested. I had a meeting with Joel Schumacher. It was just one meeting and, no, I didn’t end up doing it. As I recall I took the meeting, but didn’t want to play the role. Joel Schumacher is a very talented director but I don’t think I was ready for anything like that." Given that the film didn't do as well as the others, Leo might've dodged s serious bullet.
It was a similar situation with Spider-Man, as his close friend Toby Maguire got the role, "That was another one of those situations, similar to Robin, where I didn’t feel ready to put on that suit yet. They got in touch with me."
Leo hasn't ruled a super-hero film just yet, he would also state that he appreciates how "complex" the characters are getting, along with the advancements of the films in this day and age. Who knows, maybe Leo might rock a suit after all.
Sources: Independent, ShortList & Timeout