While there is only a deluge of new Marvel movies to come, "superhero fatigue" has been becoming more and more apparent. Not because we the audience is tired of supes, but more because the stories within these movies have been feeling flat recently. They haven’t been terrible, but recent entries like Captain America: Brave New World just feel like the stories are held back by writing choices, that don’t land. And that feels more apparent when entries like Brave New World are given massive reshoots and rewrites mid-production. Actor Giancarlo Esposito gives some insight on his character, and how it came together.
Previously, the producers of Brave New World have given some insight into why Giancarlo Esposito’s character was added so late in the production of the movie, as for the producers it was an attempt to try and "find the perfect political thriller tone". Now, in an interview with Empire, The Mandalorian star gave his perspective to the addition of his character. (Spoilers Ahead if it wasn’t already obvious.)
It was supposed to come out in March of 2024, and they decided they wanted to make some changes. 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.’
It was revealed in Brave New World that we have seen the MCU version of the Serpent Society, led by Esposito as Sidewinder. Something that was confirmed officially for us, offscreen, at San Diego Comic-Con. When building the character of Sidewinder and how they wanted to tackle his depiction in the movie, Esposito had this to say:
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. 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.
Now, reviews of the movie itself have been a mixed bag, for some the movie has made long-time fans a little nervous about the future of the MCU. While others found the movie alright, but the specific addition of the Serpent Society was viewed to be mishandled. Something I can agree on myself, mainly because for me it really did feel like they just added it in last minute... because they did.
But all in all, I don’t think that’s where the movie fell flat. In most critiques of the film, my own personal one included, the main issue across the board is that Brave New World didn’t try much in the bravery or new world aspect of the title.
Brave New World doesn’t really try anything too ambitious or new, at times it felt as though I was just watching Sam be a passive player in the continuation of other people’s stories, rather than his own. The trailers painted this as Sam finding his footing as being the new Captain America after Steve leaving, and what it means to take up a mantle that has been dominated by one person for such a long time. However, at times, it felt as though in a attempt to not step on the toes of any real life political conflicts, Brave New World threw in a plotline at the last minute to separate itself.
And while I know people are going to say for me to watch Falcon and The Winter Soldier, for a movie that was meant to be a focus on Captain America, it really didn’t feel like it at times.
This is especially because some of Brave New Worlds major twists were already spoiled in the promotional material, or already confirmed to us offscreen in real-world cast meetups. Even in its own marketing, the movie didn’t feel confident in the story, and I think that’s the biggest folly even though the casting was really good, and the actors had really good performances.
Overall, I am keeping my fingers crossed for The Fantastic Four: First Steps and some of the upcoming Marvel entries will be able to learn, and be able to pick up on some of the fumbles that other entries have been having recently. There are already some things that Brave New World has done, that fans already want to be changed before the bigger Avengers movies come out.
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