Back in May, Better Call Saul and The Mandalorian alum Giancarlo Esposito revealed he was joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though not as Professor X, who he’d hoped to play for a while. Instead, he’d been tapped for a mystery role in 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World, and earlier this month, the actor shared that no one had “guessed correctly” who he’s playing. Well, now we have the answer, because it’s been revealed that Esposito has been tapped to play Sidewinder, King of the Serpent Society, and this is a great choice for the upcoming Marvel movie.
This news comes straight out of San Diego Comic-Con from Marvel’s Hall H panel, where Esposito was on stage with other members of Captain America: Brave New World’s cast. He shared that the fans actually helped him get into the MCU, as fancasting was what linked the actor to Marvel Studios. The announcement of Esposito bringing Sidewinder to life in the MCU was met with cheers from the audience, and it’s nice to have a little bit of context to accompany the snippets of footage shown of him in the Brave New World trailer.
Officially speaking, this is the first confirmation we’ve gotten that the Serpent Society will be involved in Captain America: Brave New World. However, if you’ve been following along with this movie’s news cycle, the terrorist organization’s involvement shouldn’t come as a surprise. Various reports and leaked set photos had pointed to Seth Rollins playing King Cobra, one of the Serpent Society’s founding members. While it had been rumored in January that the Serpent Society had been cut from the movie, now we know not only know this isn’t true, but that Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder will be leading the group, just like in the comics.
Given that the Serpent Society has antagonized Captain America in the comics for decades, including them in Captain America: Brave New World is a good call. However, here they’ll be facing off against Sam Wilson rather than Steve Rogers, as Anthony Mackie’s character finally embraced the star-spangled mantle at the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Let’s also not forget that a decade ago, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced at a special event that the third Captain America movie would be called Captain America: Serpent Society, only to say he was kidding and reveal the actual Captain America: Civil War title.
Of course, you need a charismatic actor to play the man who’s calling the shots in the Serpent Society, so I’m glad to hear that Giancarlo Esposito was tapped for the job, and that he’s not playing George Washington “G.W.” Bridge as had previously been rumored. I’m also hoping Sidewinder puts on an actual comics-faithful costume rather than just cause trouble in civilian clothes and sunglasses. Whatever goes down with Sidewinder in Brave New World, we can at least count on him surviving the movie, as Esposito has also said he’ll appear in an upcoming Marvel TV show.
Captain America: Brave New World premieres February 14 on the 2025 movies schedule. Be sure to read CinemaBlend’s other Marvel-related coverage coming from San Diego Comic-Con, including The Fantastic Four’s new title and Robert Downey Jr. returning for the next two Avengers movies.
