Amid the flurry of exciting announcements at this year’s SDCC Marvel panel, Giancarlo Esposito’s revelation as Sidewinder in Captain America 4 was overshadowed. Titled ‘Captain America: Brave New World’, the fourth entry to the Captain America franchise will explore Sam Wilson’s journey as the new holder of the iconic US flag-themed vibranium shield and his conflict with the new US president, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross.
Esposito teased a long-term future for Sidewinder in his recent interview with GamesRadar. “To bring a character from scratch in the MCU derived from a history of their comics is more than I ever dreamed for, and I think the fans will not be disappointed. They’re going to love it, I’m loving it,” the actor said. “You’re going to see a complicated, very interesting character who gets a chance to have legs over a period of time.”
The Breaking Bad actor also talked about the movie’s plot and Sidewinder’s intentions. His character will be one of the key antagonists in the movie. Apart from being a lethal mercenary, Sidewinder will also serve as the leader of the Serpent Society, a notorious criminal organisation in the comics. He will look for power and be involved with the sale and theft of Adamantium (Wolverine’s claw metal) in the movie.
Born as Seth Voelker, Sidewinder was hired by the Roxxon Oil Company to steal the Serpent Crown for the company president Hugh Jones in the comics. He had a cloak that bestowed him with teleportation abilities. The successful completion of his mission inspired him to start his own criminal organisation, the Serpent Society.
Given Captain America 4’s political and grounded storyline, fans may not see Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder using his teleportation cloak in the movie as the cloak’s appearance will not make any sense. However, we should expect the character to be cunning and highly dangerous in the upcoming MCU project.
Captain America: Brave New World will arrive in theatres worldwide on February 14, 2025. Stay tuned for more updates.