CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Star Giancarlo Esposito Reveals Who He Was Originally Cast As In The Movie

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Star Giancarlo Esposito Reveals Who He Was Originally Cast As In The Movie

Better Call Saul star Giancarlo Esposito played the villainous Sidewinder in Captain America: Brave New World, but the actor has now confirmed that wasn't who he was originally meant to play in the MCU.

By JoshWilding - Mar 17, 2025 07:03 AM EST
Source: Empire Online

Breaking Bad and The Mandalorian star Giancarlo Esposito was a firm fan favourite to join the MCU, with everyone from Professor X to Doctor Doom often ranking among the most popular suggestions (Magneto was another).

When the actor was tapped for a role in Captain America: Brave New World, we initially heard that he'd be playing the relatively obscure G. W. Bridge. Instead, he was eventually revealed to be Seth Voelker, a.k.a. Sidewinder, the leader of the "Serpents," a toned-down version of the Serpent Society.

Original plans called for us to get a comic-accurate take on the villainous group, superpowers and all. Before the movie's opening sequence was scrapped, the idea was seemingly for Esposito to join them...as King Cobra!

The actor has confirmed his role changed after he was tapped by Marvel Studios to join the Captain America: Brave New World cast. 

"It was supposed to come out in March of 2024, and they decided they wanted to make some changes," Esposito told Empire. "I was on the phone with [producer] Nate Moore, who prepped me to be, possibly, a character called King Cobra, which I loved, because 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. 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.'"

"And 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," he continued. "So it was a bit of a whirlwind for me. I focused myself and I went in there and knocked it out. And I'm hoping to be in this universe a little longer."

Reading between the lines, it seems likely that Esposito was meant to fight alongside the Serpent Society members played by Seth Rollins and Rosa Salazar's Diamondback. Both were dropped from Captain America: Brave New World's final cut after extensive reshoots. 

In the comics, Klaus Voorhees/King Cobra was an ex-convict working with the humanitarian medical researcher Professor Ezekiel Shecktor in India on a universal antitoxin for snake venom. Jealous of Shecktor's success, Voorhees plotted to kill him and make the murder look like an accident.

He induced one of the cobras kept in the laboratory to bite both Shecktor and himself and planned to use the universal antitoxin to save himself from death. Unknown to Voorhees, the cobra had been irradiated, resulting in him gaining cobra-like powers. As a result, he came a criminal.

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

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ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/17/2025, 7:36 AM
Doom and Xavier are more up his alley.

Maybe in the reboot.
TheyDont
TheyDont - 3/17/2025, 7:47 AM
@ObserverIO - Or, a crazy thought, how about not race-swapping characters?
AgentofSH1ELD
AgentofSH1ELD - 3/17/2025, 7:48 AM
@ObserverIO - i would have been happy with him as Doom.. But i think too much of an age gap with him and reed now.
AgentofSH1ELD
AgentofSH1ELD - 3/17/2025, 7:49 AM
@TheyDont - Doom wouldnt have necessarily been a race swap.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/17/2025, 7:53 AM
@TheyDont - What if his character is still caucasian but his skin color is black due to his mutancy?
TheyDont
TheyDont - 3/17/2025, 8:25 AM
@ObserverIO - That would be unnecessary
Doombot
Doombot - 3/17/2025, 8:26 AM
@AgentofSH1ELD - What the [frick] are you even talking about. Doom is Eastern European and has always been depicted as such.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/17/2025, 8:34 AM
@Doombot - But we never see his face.

@TheyDon't - Only as unnecessary as Mystique having blue or scaly skin.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/17/2025, 8:35 AM
@TheyDon't - It's also not really necessary for him to have white skin when you think about it.
Doombot
Doombot - 3/17/2025, 8:40 AM
@ObserverIO - Besides it being super important to his character and a major point that he is from Latveria. Latveria is supposed to be in the Banat region so surrounded by Romania, Serbia and Hungary. Geographical locations matter. Isn't that crazy?
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/17/2025, 8:51 AM
@Doombot - When did they change it to being in the Banat region? When it was first introduced in Fantastic Four, Stan Lee was very specific that it was the lower German part of the Bavarian Alps. A very very small country at the bottom of Germany basically. Maybe geographical locations don't matter after all.
Doombot
Doombot - 3/17/2025, 9:04 AM
@ObserverIO - It's been in the same location for over 60 years and I've never heard of the Bavarian Alps location. I get that you are trying to prove a point but I assume you'd be the first to cry foul on a white Black Panther or a white Blade. You know white eastern europeans have cultures too?
AgentofSH1ELD
AgentofSH1ELD - 3/17/2025, 9:05 AM
@Doombot - why so angry. giancarlo is an amazing actor. do you not think there are dark skinned eastern europeans? He is supposed to be Romani which are not white.
dont yell at me douche. tired of all the shit out of people like you on this site. you need a life.
Ive been reading comics since i could read so we will go with well over 30 years. Im not for race or gender swapping but there is absolutely no reason a persons skin color can change the character. Now if they made it Dr. Hood Doom, that would be a problem. Or Mrs. Doom. that would be a problem
grow the [frick] up.
AgentofSH1ELD
AgentofSH1ELD - 3/17/2025, 9:06 AM
@ObserverIO - Romani = not white
Doombot
Doombot - 3/17/2025, 9:10 AM
@AgentofSH1ELD - Well his mother isn't Romani but her people were based on the Romani so he'd be half Romani in that case. His father is Latverian which is based on basically Hungary.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/17/2025, 9:18 AM
@Doombot - I wouldn't even be the last person to cry foul on a white Blade. Being black doesn't affect his characters at all. Historically it was great that he was black because it added some diversity to Marvel, but he doesn't need to remain black in every incarnation.

Maybe Sadie Sink is playing a Blade variant in Spider-Man 4.
AgentofSH1ELD
AgentofSH1ELD - 3/17/2025, 9:18 AM
@Doombot - Just stop. for [frick]s sake. Same team. I dont like race swapping either. my point is the guy is a fantastic actor and could do it. I had this same argument about him or Denzel being Magneto. Is it "comic accurate"? no but really what the [frick] about any of the movies are comic accurate?!?!?!??! The names?!? 1/3rd of the suits????????
Doombot
Doombot - 3/17/2025, 9:23 AM
@AgentofSH1ELD - It's not same team. He shouldn't be Magneto because Magneto is Jewish and that is important to his character just as Dr. Doom being Eastern European. No one is saying he's not an amazing actor. I know he is. I love him as Gus but he's too old and not right for Dr. Doom. I think its honestly disgusting how you try to erase a characters history because you like an actor.
Doombot
Doombot - 3/17/2025, 9:25 AM
@ObserverIO - There is no reason to change Blade as there is no reason to change Doom or Magneto. Both are heavily based on their backstory and those backstories rely on the regions they were born. It builds their character and philosophies. It's actually insane you think Magneto shouldn't be jewish.
AgentofSH1ELD
AgentofSH1ELD - 3/17/2025, 9:28 AM
@Doombot - i think its disgusting how you are on here trolling to get your rocks off and creating arguments just to [frick]ing argue. Go look in the mirror and argue. So wait. you dont think a black guy can be jewish? Now again, I agree, it wouldnt make sense for the ORIGINAL CHARACTER BACKSTORY because black jews were not prominent during the time frame of the holocaust, but they did exist.
Also nice way to avoid the true issue. Nothing about CBM's have been comic accurate. How much did you bitch about no Donald Blake? Probably none because you dont have a clue. Or how about Ultimate Nick Fury instead of the Original? Captain Marvel? How about how they decimated Drax?
All the characters storys, arcs, personalities, suits... its all been changed for film.
DarthAlgar
DarthAlgar - 3/17/2025, 9:29 AM
@ObserverIO - I concur.

You seem more gender obsessed than race obsessed, which is a slight change of pace when compared to others on here.
Doombot
Doombot - 3/17/2025, 9:42 AM
@AgentofSH1ELD - Sorry I want ONE CHARACTER that is close to my ancestry to reflect the region they are from. You're right. Black people need EVEN MORE representation. By bad. Can never have an Eastern European because they are "white" even when its baked into the backstory for half a century.
PC04
PC04 - 3/17/2025, 9:51 AM
@Doombot - 100% Agree. Black Panther should never be changed. Magneto should never be changed. Blade should never be changed. You can't just change Isaiah Bradley either, his story would lose meaning and importance.

Some characters you can bend/swap whatever. But Magneto isn't one of them in my opinion.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/17/2025, 10:04 AM
@Doombot - Magneto wasn't always Jewish, that was a retcon too. Also the holocaust was so long ago now that we'd be stuck with a centenarian for a while.

So did you like the Wesley Snipes Blade? Was that version of Blade okay by you?
TheFinestSmack
TheFinestSmack - 3/17/2025, 7:46 AM
I finally watched the movie and this was an even bigger waste of a talented actor than I could have ever thought possible.
JacobsLadder
JacobsLadder - 3/17/2025, 9:07 AM
@TheFinestSmack - don't watch Electric State then. It will Rian Johnson your expectations even more.
TheFinestSmack
TheFinestSmack - 3/17/2025, 9:29 AM
@JacobsLadder - He's in that too?!? I haven't heard anything good about that movie yet.
JacobsLadder
JacobsLadder - 3/17/2025, 10:55 AM
@TheFinestSmack - he is and he's wasted again.
TheFinestSmack
TheFinestSmack - 3/17/2025, 11:15 AM
@JacobsLadder - shame. Not sure why they all keep disrespecting the man with lame roles that aren't worth his time.
JacobsLadder
JacobsLadder - 3/17/2025, 11:25 AM
@TheFinestSmack - kind of like Henry Cavill.
Repian
Repian - 3/17/2025, 7:50 AM
Esposito to voice Ultra-Humanite in the DCU.
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SuperCat
SuperCat - 3/17/2025, 7:59 AM
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DudeGuy
DudeGuy - 3/17/2025, 8:05 AM
No one is calling you King. Ease up.
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