Giancarlo Esposito confirms he was originally set to play Marvel's King Cobra in Captain America: Brave New World: "It was a bit of a whirlwind"

Captain America: Brave New World‘s Sidewinder actor Giancarlo Esposito has opened up on the character he was originally “prepped” to play in the Marvel movie – and revealed why the team behind the Anthony Mackie-led sequel switched things up in the reshoots.

In a new interview with Collider, the Breaking Bad actor said that producer Nate Moore had initially approached him about bringing Klaus Voorhees AKA King Cobra to life. In the comics, Voorhees is an ex-convict who gets bitten by a radioactive snake when his plot to murder his co-worker, medical researcher Professor Ezekiel Shecktor, goes awry. He’s best known for facing off against Thor, Daredevil, and Mr. Fantastic, and has unsurprisingly had run-ins with Captain America and Falcon.

“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,” Esposito recalled thinking in those early days. “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.’

“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.”

Created by writer Mark Gruenwald and artist Ralph Macchio, Seth Voekler AKA Sidewinder is a economics professor-turned-crime boss, who was chemically mutated him by the Roxxon Oil Company. As a result of the accident, he developed the ability to teleport using a special cloak, though he doesn’t have such powers in Brave New World. Throughout his run, his most notable clashes have been with the likes of Scarlet Witch, Triton, Stingray, and Fantastic Four‘s The Thing.

“I’m hoping to be in this universe a little longer,” Esposito replied, when asked about Voekler’s potential future in the MCU.

Captain America: Brave New World is in cinemas now. For more from the MCU, check out the latest on the upcoming Marvel movies and shows.

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