Better Call Saul star Giancarlo Esposito made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in the new movie Captain America: Brave New World. Before reshoots, however, Esposito was not involved, making his MCU entrance possible at the zero hour.

Per Variety, Captain America: Brave New World director Julius Onah opened up about the MCU film. He explained how Esposito’s character, Sidewinder, was written into the story later on when the filmmakers felt the need to add more “grounded” characters to the movie. While there were always plans to have the Serpent Society playing a big part of the story, the original idea was to have their introduction be a bit more “heightened.” After the choice was made to bring in a grounded villain, Onah learned that Esposito was interested in the role.

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“This is another case of the grounded aesthetic and tone of the film,” Onah said. “Serpent Society had always been a part of the story since I joined, but as you are probably well aware, in publishing, these characters dress up in snake-like outfits and have snake-like powers. Some of them are, you know, so over the top that they can even be a little bit cartoonish. As we were iterating through how to bring them into the MCU, we leaned into versions that were a bit more heightened and also versions that were a bit more grounded. We found that the more grounded version, though it didn’t have some of the really fun, cool stuff in publishing, just felt way more authentic to the film.”

He added, “Going into our additional photography that we planned from the very beginning, we knew that would always be our opportunity to refine how the Serpent Society would work in the film. It just so happened that Giancarlo was available, and he’s literally one of my favorite actors. I started my career interning and working for Spike Lee. “Do the Right Thing” is one of the most important films to me as a filmmaker; I’ve lionized Giancarlo for a very long time.”

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“He also has a history with Anthony Mackie; they’ve been wanting to work together for a very long time,” the filmmaker also noted of Esposito. “And of course, fans have been fan-casting him in the MCU. The great thing about Giancarlo is he can take things that could feel fantastical and make them feel grounded. It just felt we had like we triangulated on the perfect actor to be Sidewinder, to lead Serpent Society and to bring them into the MCU.”

Seth Rollins Lost His Shot at Joining the MCU

Onah confirmed that the original version of the Serpent Society that was shot for the film was more “fantastical” than what was seen in the final result, with Sidewinder leading the charge. The director insisted that the change was done because it’s “what’s right for the movie.” Though he didn’t mention WWE Superstar Seth Rollins, it’s well known that the grappler was set to appear in Brave New World originally. Set images taken also revealed his role to be a member of the Serpent Society. Going by Onah’s new comments, it seems that Rollins’ role was cut because the filmmakers found it to be over the top.

“The script went through a lot of rewrites and reshoots so what I was there to do, essentially, my role got either repurposed or completely erased,” Rollins said on the Insight podcast ahead of the movie’s release.

Captain America: Brave New World is playing in movie theaters.

Source: Variety

Captain America: Brave New World

Release Date

February 14, 2025

Director

Julius Onah

Writers

Dalan Musson, Malcolm Spellman

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  Anthony Mackie

  Sam Wilson / Captain America

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  Harrison Ford

  Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross / Red Hulk