Giancarlo Esposito has revealed who he was originally supposed to play in Captain America: Brave New World, also known as Captain America 4.
Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World was released in United States theaters this past February. Directed by Julius Onah, the MCU film sees Esposito play Seth Voelker/Sidewinder; although, he was initially approached to play a different character in the film.
Who was Giancarlo Esposito originally supposed to play in Captain America 4?
Speaking to Empire Magazine, via Collider, Esposito said, “[The movie] 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.”
Esposito said he was excited about the idea of playing King Cobra in Captain America 4 and that playing Sidewinder instead was “a bit of a whirlwind.”
He explained, “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. 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.”
In Marvel Comics, King Cobra/Klaus Voorhees, who was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck, is an ex-convict who was bitten by a snake with radioactive venom. He then injects himself with an experimental anti-toxin, which, combined with the venom, gives him serpent-like superpowers. He then later takes leadership of the Serpent Society, which was founded by Sidwinder.
Originally reported by Brandon Schreur at SuperHeroHype.