The fifth film of MCU’s Phase Five, after the recently released blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine, will be Captain America: Brave New World and the buzz around it couldn’t be louder. Not only will it be Anthony Mackie’s solo Marvel movie as the Captain, but it will also feature Giancarlo Esposito officially debuting in the respective superhero universe.
Unsurprisingly enough, he will be seen in a villainous role as revealed during the exclusively held Comic-Con 2024, just like his role as Stan in the smash-hit Prime Video series The Boys. But while he is once again playing an antagonist in a super-verse, his role has a different tinge to it this time around, as compared to his counterpart in the adult superhero series.
Giancarlo Esposito Talks His Villainous Role in Captain America: Brave New World
At the recently held San Diego Comic-Con 2024, Brave New World didn’t hesitate to leave fans star-struck. Besides stealing the show with the movie’s preview, one major surprise character’s involvement in the film was also revealed: Giancarlo Esposito‘s Sidewinder aka Seth Voelker.
As the 66-year-old actor excitedly announced during the panel (via Entertainment Weekly):
Wow! I can finally unleash it. I am the King of the Serpent Society. I am Sidewinder!
For non-comic readers, the Serpent Society is one of the villains rivaling Anthony Mackie‘s character, except that this group is a bit different than the others: They’re snake-themed. Then there’s Seth Voelker, who is the leader of this society and exercises the power of teleportation.
But while Esposito is once again playing a villain in the superhero universe, just like his iconic character Stan Edgar in The Boys, this antagonist role holds a different flair to it as compared to that of Stan.
Talking about his character, the Better Call Saul actor said:
I like Sidewinder because he’s a very physical guy, and he’s got to go toe-to-toe with his physicality, and he knows how to use the tools of his trade. So he’s someone who plays against some of the things in the comic that you think could be true.
Considering how his version of Seth Voelker is more induced toward the physical side, it is inevitably different from his other infamous villain role since Stan was a much brainier villain rather than a more physical one.
That being said, fans might as well expect Esposito to use more of his physicality than his brains this time around while looking at him in Brave New World.
Sidewinder is “A complicated guy who didn’t start in a nefarious way”
During the same event, Esposito further emphasized why he likes this particular character so much all the while defending him to say he wasn’t always a bad guy. Letting out his hopes and perspective, he said:
He’s a complicated guy who didn’t start in a nefarious way. He came to this in a different way, which hopefully will unfold. And I like it because you’ve seen me play certain villainous characters who use their brains, who are great at dictating what to do and how to do it.
That said, this one will be a considerably newer light in which Esposito will be seen, even though he holds a compelling record of all the antagonists he has embodied in multiple franchises over the years. Nonetheless, it would be interesting to see what Esposito brings to the table as Seth Voelker.
Captain America: Brave New World is set to hit the screens on the 14th of February, 2025.
