If you get one of the best bad-guy actors of our time,Giancarlo Esposito, who gave us spine-chilling characters inThe MandalorianandBreaking Bad, then you’d better give him enough character to deal with to give the best performance possible. Instead,Captain America: Brave New Worldgave us a character with minimal narrative weight, Sidewinder, who feels like he could be given the same treatment as Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson) afterThe Incredible Hulk, forgotten until the MCU can be bothered to return to him.
We know thatBrave New Worldhad lots of reshoots, so it must be said that the fact we have a cohesive narrative to begin with is impressive, but that doesn’t mean it should be critiqued any less than another film. The fact remains thatSidewinder existed to move the plot from one beat to another rather than being a character with his own motivationsand goals outside of killing Captain America for someone else’s plan. We may see Sidewinder again, butBrave New World’s fumbling of the character could mean we don’t care if or when he comes back.
‘Brave New World’s Reshoots Promised So Much and Delivered So Little
It appears that Esposito was added via reshoots, as he was only revealed during the2024 San Diego Comic-Con, which was going tooriginally be played by WWE wrestlerSeth Rollins. This is not meant in any way as disrespect to Rollins, but such a recast promised a beefed-up and more dramatic role for Sidewinder. Whilst Rollins’ skills would lend themselves more to fight scenes,Esposito is certainly known more for his line delivery than his action capabilities.
However, the fact that he appears at the beginning of the film as an introduction toSam (Anthony Mackie)and the adamantium, out of nowhere halfway through to kill Sam on The Leader’s orders, and once more whilst in prison so he can tell Sam what The Leader’s plan is, really makes you feel this shoehorning in. Essentially,Esposito’s Sidewinder exists to give Sam the ability to track or learn more about Samuel Sterns, whilst being completely ignored by all other characters in the film, and it means his appearances are dull and forgettable. Yet, almost worse than his lackluster scenes is the promise that he will be back.
Sidewinder Could Return in Another MCU Film, But Will We Care?
Certainly, there is still the potential to see Sidewinder again, butBrave New Worldmakes this feel like a very small possibility. He is not shown as having much power beyond hiring goons and being good with weapons, and with the film’s current poor reception, willMarvelwant to revisit this character anytime soon? Certainly,the moment of him declaring that it is “when” he escaped from prison, not if, felt like an eye-roll moment in the cinema; such a nothing line that Sam barely acknowledges that it was said, which is no doubt another consequence of reshoots making the editing process a challenge to form a cohesive narrative.
Furthermore, Marvel has reduced the stakes surrounding Sidewinder as a threat to Sam.We have seen him go upagainst Captain Americatwice with goons and one-on-one, and we have seen him foiled twice, with Sam not even having his wings or shield the second time. Therefore, any storyline would have to increase his power, but even then, it would struggle to make us feel the threat of a man who will be going into his third round against Sam once he breaks out.
In the end, it feels confusing as to why Esposito was given the role, as it feels like Seth Rollins could have performed the same scenes to a similar level of performance. That isn’t to say that Esposito gave a bad performance or that Rollins is a bad actor, so even he could do it. It simply means that anyone could have done it, as the scenes given to us were bland and ineffective, so to make such a bold change in direction feels odd. Sidewinder simply felt like an expository loose end thatBrave New Worldwas unsure how to tie up by the end of the film, andit is a great shame that such a great actor like Giancarlo Esposito was wastedin such a way.
Captain America: Brave New World
