By now, we're sure you all know how much Captain America: Brave New World's Serpent Society changed. Plans for them to be a group of superpowered villains were scrapped, and Rosa Salazar and Seth Rollins ended up on the cutting room floor.
The group, whose upgrades reportedly came from Ironheart's Ezekiel Stane, ultimately became a largely generic team of mercenaries—the "Serpents"—led by Giancarlo Esposito's Sidewinder.
It seems Captain America: Brave New World was in a constant state of flux, as we now have a first look at Michael Blackbear Uwandi's early designs for a version of Sidewinder who wielded more than just a gun.
"Serpent Society for Captain America Brave New World. Very early iteration of nano tattoos," the artist wrote on Instagram. "The snake skin mask was the idea of a 'first phase' transformation for the characters. This was the first take on Side Winder before the actor was cast. The actor ultimately ended up being Giancarlo Esposito."
Despite a lukewarm reception from fans, Esposito's Sidewinder is expected to return in an upcoming TV series. Right now, the most likely possibilities for that are Vision and Daredevil: Born Again season 2 (Wonder Man is possible, but doesn't really add up).
Earlier this year, The Mandalorian star revealed that Marvel Studios originally approached him about taking on the role of King Cobra, instead.
"If I'm walking around the neighborhood, African-Americans go, 'What's up, King?' I love it. They call me King, baby! I mean, that's the highest honor," Esposito shared. "But as it turned out, there [are other Kings] in the Marvel world, and this was connected to the Serpent Society."
"They were going back to the comics and trying to figure it out, and Nate said, 'We can give you all the characteristics of King, but we think he should be Sidewinder,'" the actor continued. "They spoke about creating a character that was really grounded, in a mercenary fashion."
"They wanted to ground the movie when they went back in to do some additional shooting, and their focus now was on this additional character. So it was a bit of a whirlwind for me. I focused myself and I went in there and knocked it out," Esposito concluded.
In Captain America: Brave New World, after meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, played by Harrison Ford in his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, Sam Wilson finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.
The movie stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford. The movie is directed by Julius Onah and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. Louis D’Esposito and Charles Newirth serve as executive producers.
Captain America: Brave New World is now streaming on Disney+.