CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Star Giancarlo Esposito Wants To Play BATMAN Villain Mr. Freeze

After playing the villainous Sidewinder in Captain America: Brave New World, Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) has expressed interest in suiting up as Mr. Freeze in the DC Universe. Read on for details...

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By JoshWilding - Mar 28, 2025 06:03 AM EST

Filed Under: The Brave and the Bold

Since stealing the show as the twisted Gus Fring in Breaking Bad, Giancarlo Esposito has played many a villain. Most recently, he's starred in The Electric State and Captain America: Brave New World. In the latter, he suited up as Serpent Society leader Sidewinder.

Fans were disappointed to see the actor "wasted" on such a minor character in the MCU, especially after years of fan casts suggesting he suit up as Magneto or Mister Sinister, for example.

Could Esposito get a second chance in the DCU? It wouldn't be overly surprising, and the actor has now thrown his hat into the ring for Batman villain Mr. Freeze. The character has been rumoured to appear on screen for several years now, both in Matt Reeves' The Batman franchise and The Brave and the Bold.

At this point, casting The Mandalorian star as a baddie feels a little too predictable and arguably wouldn't hit the same as it might have done a few years ago when Esposito wasn't seemingly taking every villain role offered to him.

In the comics, Dr. Victor Fries was a brilliant cryogenics expert who turned to crime after a lab accident left him unable to survive outside a sub-zero suit. His origin stems from desperation to save his terminally ill wife, Nora, whom he keeps frozen in hopes of finding a cure.

Fries debuted as Mr. Zero in Batman #121 in 1959 and evolved into Mr. Freeze after appearing in the Batman TV series starring Adam West and Batman: The Animated Series. Arnold Schwarzenegger played him in 1997’s Batman & Robin, delivering many an infamous ice pun.

"In my view, I just feel drawn to finding the grounded version of everything," The Batman director Matt Reeves said in 2022. "So to me, it would be a challenge in an interesting way to try and figure out how that could happen, even the idea of something like Mr. Freeze, that is such a great story, right?"

"I think there’s actually a grounded version of that story, which could be really powerful and could be really great. So, I love the fantastical side of Batman, but this iteration, obviously, while being, to me, I think it is very comics faithful, but I don’t think that this one is necessarily, it doesn’t lean as hard into the fantastical, I guess."

He added, "But I think to me what would be interesting would be to try and unwind the fantastical and see, well, how could that make sense here? And so that’s kind of my view, how I see it."

Do you think Esposito would be a good fit for Mr. Freeze in the DCU or Bat-Verse?

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54 Comments

1 2

ObserverIO - 3/28/2025, 6:41 AM

Cool.

TGDestroyer - 3/28/2025, 7:34 AM

@ObserverIO - Yeah, he's a chill dude. I could see it.

MakeAmericaGrea - 3/28/2025, 7:39 AM

@TGDestroyer -

We need an ice solid choice.

Giancarlo Esposito would be slush.

TGDestroyer - 3/28/2025, 9:38 AM

@MakeAmericaGrea - Yup, dude excels at playing characters as cold as ice.

TheVisionary25 - 3/28/2025, 6:43 AM

He would be great as Freeze imo no doubt so I wouldn’t mind if we see him in that role..

I also think he could be an intriguing Hugo Strange , Brainiac , Brother Blood & Clock King (modeled after the BTAS version).

Anyway even though it wasn’t a big role given he was added via reshoots , I enjoyed him as Sidewinder in BNW and hope to see him again in the near future…

It was cool to see him in a more physical & action oriented role then his usual villains (aside from Moff Gideon) which is why he said he signed up for it.

Repian - 3/28/2025, 6:44 AM

His face should be an expression of suffering, of pain...along with the suit's cooling system.

MakeAmericaGrea - 3/28/2025, 7:41 AM

@Repian -

What is this art and where did you find it?

Also, that is unpleasant, no gracias.

JustAWaffle - 3/28/2025, 6:50 AM

Nice

SheepishOne - 3/28/2025, 7:24 AM

I’m all for it. Would love for it to be in the Reeves Bat-verse, if they do a third. Been dying to see a more realistic interpretation of Mr. Freeze.

Back in the Nolan/Bale days, I really wanted to see Tobin Bell in the role, but he’s a bit too old now. Giancarlo would knock it out of the park.

MakeAmericaGrea - 3/28/2025, 7:45 AM

@SheepishOne -

If you've been dying to see a more realistic interpretation of Mr. Freeze, Giancarlo Esposito wouldn't provide one.

He's 66. That's too old for Mr. Freeze when he's going against Batman who is in his 30s or early 40s.

Slotherin - 3/28/2025, 8:14 AM

@MakeAmericaGrea - he just played a guy taking on Sam Wilson in a physical fight... Also, Freeze isn't portrayed as anything other than a meek scientist past his suit... It's always the suit and gun giving Batman trouble, not that Freeze is physically adept (he's often not).

MakeAmericaGrea - 3/28/2025, 9:04 AM

@Slotherin -

Maybe a Mr. Freeze actor shouldn't be about 27 years older than "his" Batman actor.

Batman could potentially age ten years and then share the screen with a Mr. Freeze played by a 76 year old.

Repian - 3/28/2025, 9:34 AM

@SheepishOne - I imagine Freeze as someone who suffers tissue damage and necrosis as a result of the extreme cold. He's inside a special suit that mitigates the pain. Also, although Victor knows he'll die soon, he hopes to live long enough to exact his revenge.

SheepishOne - 3/28/2025, 11:01 AM

@MakeAmericaGrea - I guess it depends on the physicality of the interpretation. From personal taste, I don’t necessarily need to see Freeze as a physical adversary throwing punches. I like the idea of Freeze being much older than Batman and having this sort of cold (hah) decrepit look, almost like a corpse being preserved by the body suit. Different strokes, though.

Thing94 - 3/28/2025, 7:25 AM

MakeAmericaGrea - 3/28/2025, 7:48 AM

@Thing94 -

A woman Blade/Erica would be okay too.

MakeAmericaGrea - 3/28/2025, 7:36 AM

Sorry, Giancarlo, enough White folklore has been hijacked.

Mr. Freeze is White.

Maybe Mark Strong can have an audition.

JustAWaffle - 3/28/2025, 7:43 AM

@MakeAmericaGrea - There are some characters who are inherently white or black or whatever, but on film I can see changes made in either direction. Freeze isn’t so tied down to his ethnicity that it would be awkward to see. I know it’s a weird trend in Hollywood right now, but this one wouldn’t bother me.

That said, Mark Strong would be the better choice. He not only has the look as a bald guy, but his subtle aggressive tone would be better than Giancarlo‘s imo.

MakeAmericaGrea - 3/28/2025, 7:57 AM

@JustAWaffle -

"That said, Mark Strong would be the better choice. He not only has the look as a bald guy, but his subtle aggressive tone would be better than Giancarlo‘s imo."

Nice.

But of course lots of people publicly talking about raceswaps, they only accept raceswaps that go in one direction.

White --> any ethnicity that isn't White.

If a popular cool White actor said they'd like to play a B, C, or D list character who isn't White, and some fans said "There are some characters who are inherently white or black or whatever, but on film I can see changes made in either direction. ________ isn’t so tied down to his ethnicity that it would be awkward to see.", oh, there would be Hell to pay.

Slotherin - 3/28/2025, 8:06 AM

@JustAWaffle - when you have a predominantly white line-up and people only have so much acceptance for new characters, it becomes a weird area.

But to adapt older characters like Batman often means shifting things anyway rather than keeping to the original...
Much of what we like about Batman and Freeze are the result of multiple revisions anyway. It took 2 shows outside the comics to give us Mr Freeze as he is today...
Many things we take as a given about Batman weren't there at the start.

Also as you pointed out, there hasn't been any particular spotlight or relevance placed on Freeze's ethnicity since his conception (none to my knowledge at least) so if you wrote a script on him there's no particular need to say that someone has to be "completely" white to play him.

With that said, Giancarlo is half Italian if we consider that white...
Funny thing about "white" is how it depends on the time and place what even gets considered that.

JustAWaffle - 3/28/2025, 8:08 AM

@MakeAmericaGrea - That is a weird trend, and I think it’s been exacerbated over the last 6 years or so. But it’s been normal for a long time to change it up with movies and shows.

If they didn’t make the ethnic swap a thing (either direction) it would probably have some online backlash, but if it’s done well I think most people generally don’t care. It’s the race hustlers who make a big stink every time that get the eye roll from guys like me.

I usually just make my opinion known with my wallet. If it looks good and the quality is there I pay. If it feels like the quality itself is championed over the person’s skin color, that’s usually a sign that they didn’t put much thought into it and I do something else with my money. Buying up stocks is a nifty thing to do during this current dip in the market.

JustAWaffle - 3/28/2025, 8:10 AM

@Slotherin -

MakeAmericaGrea - 3/28/2025, 9:18 AM

@Slotherin -

"Also as you pointed out, there hasn't been any particular spotlight or relevance placed on Freeze's ethnicity since his conception (none to my knowledge at least) so if you wrote a script on him there's no particular need to say that someone has to be "completely" white to play him."

Would it be okay to race swap characters who aren't White if there hasn't been any particular spotlight or relevance placed on their ethnicity?

Or conveniently, do few White characters' ethnicity matter, while the ethnicity matters for all characters who aren't White?

MakeAmericaGrea - 3/28/2025, 9:22 AM

@JustAWaffle -

"If they didn’t make the ethnic swap a thing (either direction) it would probably have some online backlash, but if it’s done well I think most people generally don’t care. It’s the race hustlers who make a big stink every time that get the eye roll from guys like me."

Think of about three to fifty of the most popular characters who aren't White.

Which of them would be okay to race swap in a $100-250 million dollar big tent pole movie?

TGDestroyer - 3/28/2025, 10:29 AM

@Slotherin - True. It's easy to forget metrics and demographics, and how that translates to box office/money, is what studios care about. And of course star power. It's also why Barry never has blonde hair outside of animation, for example, so you end up with an Ezra Miller. Although it seems dumb to me at this point.

JustAWaffle - 3/28/2025, 11:45 AM

@MakeAmericaGrea - Can’t think of much now besides Freeze right now. But I’d take it on a case by case basis.

JustAWaffle - 3/28/2025, 11:52 AM

@MakeAmericaGrea - “do few White characters' ethnicity matter, while the ethnicity matters for all characters who aren't White?“

I think that’s a fair question. And I think it comes down to each character in question. If they made Batman black it would go against some pretty heavy aspects of his character. I’d even say they would be making a new character altogether by doing that. The same would go with making Black Panther white (if you haven’t seen the meme of that it’s pretty funny). But as I said, I think it comes down to the foundations of what make those characters. If it’s not tied much to their ethnicity or culture, I think it’s ok to change it up if they want to. Just so long as they make a story worth watching or reading

ObserverIO - 3/28/2025, 12:04 PM

@MakeAmericaGrea - DC is not "White folklore". They are American comics (America is not the land of the white nor was it back when DC first started publishing comics) with a global, nay multiversal setting.

This is not folklore created by, for and about a remote white tribe disconnected from the rest of the world.

Also... HE'S BLUE!

Odekahn - 3/28/2025, 12:51 PM

@MakeAmericaGrea - Got em’! 👏🏻

NodrickStripson - 3/28/2025, 7:43 AM

To be honest I’m kinda getting tired of seeing him do yet another bad guy role.

Arthorious - 3/28/2025, 8:17 AM

@NodrickStripson - it’s like Mark Strong or Peter Greene playing villains most of the time. Especially Pete Greene; all the movies I’ve seen with him, he’s always playing a villain or henchman: The Mask, Pulp Fiction, Blue Streak, Justified, Training Day etc.

DEVWoulf - 3/28/2025, 7:44 AM

Why not? He's a cool guy and he's got the chin for it too. I'm down... I'm chill. Giancarlo is half-Italian like me so I'll support him in everything lol!

MakeAmericaGrea - 3/28/2025, 7:49 AM

@DEVWoulf -

Mr. Freeze is White.

Giancarlo Esposito is 66.

Slotherin - 3/28/2025, 8:18 AM

@MakeAmericaGrea - Giancarlo Esposito is half Italian. That's part white. How come it's not enough?

MakeAmericaGrea - 3/28/2025, 8:46 AM

@Slotherin -

Ask pretty much everyone.

Obama was adopted as being black.

How many people say he was the first black American president?

But was he? Or was he the first half white-half black American president?

If talented actors who are half White wanted to play Blade, Storm, Bishop, Lucius Fox, Vixen, Luke Cage, and Spawn, would that be okay?

Especially if they had fairly light skin and blue eyes?

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CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Star Giancarlo Esposito Wants To Play BATMAN Villain Mr. Freeze

After playing the villainous Sidewinder in Captain America: Brave New World, Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) has expressed interest in suiting up as Mr. Freeze in the DC Universe. Read on for details...

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