Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: MCU Movies

  • Andrew Garfield Finally Addresses His MCU Future

    Andrew Garfield Finally Addresses His MCU Future

    Andrew Garfield‘s return as Peter Parker/The Amazing Spider-Man in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home was one of the highlights of what is unarguably one of Marvel Studios’ best post-Infinity Saga projects. Garfield showed off his incredible growth as an actor since first taking up the role in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man by bringing a damaged and reflective Spidey to the screen.

    Possibly more enjoyable than his work in the film, however, was his work leading up to it. It was there that Garfield showed his true talents as an actor by denying he had any role in Spider-Man: No Way Home despite plenty of credible intel that he was. In doing so, Garfield joined a long and prestigious list of actors who vehemently denied their roles in Marvel Studios projects. Following the release of the film, Garfield explained that while “the company” made him keep up the lie, “it was kinda fun to do” although it “ruined his reputation” for telling the truth. Now, as rumors continue to swirl that the actor will make another MCU appearance in Spider-Man 4, Garfield is back at work and nobody knows how to take him.

    We all came with our own history and with our own relationship to the character in our own films. I think what really was wonderful, and how it unfolded very early on, was Tobey and I felt very aligned and very clear about what our intentions were for being there. Ultimately, it was to serve Tom as an actor and, as characters, serving Tom’s Peter Parker. I think from that place, everything flowed. It enabled Tobey and me to have a bit more fun maybe than we would’ve had if we were the ones fully carrying the story.

    -Andrew Garfield on his role in Spider-Man: No Way Home via Marvel.com

    During an interview with Indie Wire, Garfield was asked about his potential involvement with Spider-Man 4, which is still in development. “I mean, like the internet is a big place,” Garfield said. “I think there’s a lot of people who will just say anything to get clicks. So you might have been duped, I’m afraid.” Have fans been duped? Or is Garfield once again throwing out the company line?

    While the actor’s involvement in Spider-Man 4 is possible, especially given the reception to his return as Spidey in No Way Home, it does seem more likely that he’d return for one or both of the studio’s next two Avengers projects, 2026’s Doomsday and 2027’s Secret Wars. Of course, even set photos of Garfield didn’t convince fans of his role in No Way Home, so until whatever project he’s returning in hits theaters, the actor will be able to continue to have fun deceiving fans.

    Sources: Indie Wire, Marvel.com , The View

  • Marvel Studios Reportedly Considering Canceling Two Major Projects

    Marvel Studios Reportedly Considering Canceling Two Major Projects

    After a nearly decade-long run as the undisputed champion of pop culture, Marvel Studios has faced its fair share of adversity over the past several years. The return of Bob Iger following a string of films that weren’t quite up to the studio’s own lofty standards and a streaming project that could just have easily stayed in the idea stage led to some big changes behind the scenes. After taking some time to reflect on what went wrong, the studio adopted a new way of doing business behind the scenes and rolled out some flashy rebranding in public in hopes of recapturing the magic that made the brand.

    One change clearly stated by Iger was that the studio would no longer seek to push out 4 movies and 4 streaming projects each year. With so many projects already known to be in various stages of development at the time of Iger’s mandate, it seemed a certainty that some projects would be pushed well down the road while others might never made at all. According to a new report, two projects that have been in development for several years are on the chopping block.

    According to insider Daniel RPK, Marvel Studios is currently considering the fates of both Armor Wars and Blade with a decision on the future of both projects expected by the end of the year.

    Armor Wars

    Originally announced as a streaming series during Disney’s 2020 Investor Day presentation, Armor Wars became a theatrical project in 2022. Marvel Studios’ Parliament member Nate Moore explained that the decision to shift gears to a movie was due in part to “some great ideas that were coming out for that show but that, to be quite honest, felt too big for that show.” Big ideas mean a big budget and, as Moore explained, it became more realistic to develop Armor Wars as a feature film.

    Our Disney+ shows are awesome and we love them, but the budgets are not the same as the features, that’s not secret. And when you’re talking about a show that wants to be about seeing all the cool armors, and Don Cheadle interacting with all these armors, and the legacy of Tony Stark, that became cost-prohibitive to do as a show.

    -Nate Moore on Armor Wars

    At that time, the story of Armor Wars was also explained to be very connected both to what came before (which turned out to be Secret Invasion) and what was coming next.

    And we realized as a feature, not only can we get into some of the beautiful imagery that is from publishing and there’s certainly an Armor Wars run, but also there’s ways then to leverage the ideas of that movie that affect other movies down the line. So it becomes a multiplication really of, once you figure out what is cool about something…

    -Nate Moore on Armor Wars

    However, with Secret Invasion being an abysmal failure and the entire back half of the Multiverse Saga being rethought following the poor reception to the concept and the firing of Jonathan Majors, Armor Wars has gone from a necessary bridge to potential collateral damage.

    Blade

    Easily the biggest surprise of SDCC ’19, the studio’s Mahershala Ali-led Blade film has gone through well-documented turmoil and seems no closer to being made now than it was five years ago. Despite Disney still holding a November 7, 2025 date aside for the film, Blade is currently without a director and has already gone through at least six different writers.

    Director Yann Demange‘s decision to leave the project was the end result of a tumultuous six months full of upheval and uncertainty. As recently as January 2024, Demange expressed excitement over the project and explained why being given the green light to make an R-rated film was so crucial to the project.

    They gave me the R, which is so important. We are going to have fun because Mahershala is such a deep actor.” “I’m excited to show a kind of ruthlessness, a roughness he has, that allows him to walk the earth in a particular way. I love him for that. He’s got a dignity and integrity, but there is a ferocity there that he usually keeps under the surface. I want to unleash that and put it on the screen.

    -Yann Demange on the R-rating of Blade

    At this point, it seems more likely that Blade–whose voice was heard in a post-credit scene to Eternals–may appear in the rumored Midnight Sons film before a solo Blade project gets off the ground.

  • Veteran Marvel Studios Director Explains Why He’s Not Returning to the MCU

    Veteran Marvel Studios Director Explains Why He’s Not Returning to the MCU

    When Marvel Studios and Sony brought Jon Watts on board to direct 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, the director was a relative unknown in the industry. Watts had only directed one film–2015’s Cop Car–before being given the great responsibility of weaving a web of Spidey stories into an MCU-set trilogy. What followed was one of the shared universe’s most financially and critically successful trilogies which wrapped up in 2021 with Spider-Man: No Way Home, the third-highest-grossing film in Marvel Studios’ very illustrious history.

    Given his success behind the camera for the Spider-Man trilogy, Marvel Studios turned to Watts to shepherd another incredibly important franchise into the MCU in the Fantastic Four. However, as delays on the project piled up and other projects took precedence for Watts, he amicably left the project. Still, it seemed all but a sure thing that he’d return to the MCU, especially with a second Spidey trilogy in the works but earlier this year, Watts made it clear that he was not going back behind the camera for Spider-Man 4. With his new film, Wolfs, recently debuting, Watts has been making the rounds and in an interview with THR, explained why he chose to pass on the new Spidey project and instead direct Wolfs which he created from an original idea.

    “I was just getting started and Marvel came along — and I take full creative ownership over all those films — but Spider-Man is always going to be Stan Lee and Steve Ditko‘s creation,” said Watts of jumping into the MCU, adding, “This was the chance for me to go back to my voice and my vision and my style. Wolfs is mine, and that’s a really good feeling.”

    Ironically enough, it was another “really good feeling” that inspired Watts to walk away from the MCU. Recalling the Los Angeles premiere of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the director explained that he came to the realization that he could never duplicate the special feelings the film–which was one of the first major post-pandemic releases–provided the audience.”That was such a specific moment in time, and the reaction to that movie was just so unbelievable,” said Watts. “It’s never going to be like this, ever again.” And so, rather than chase something unattainable, Watts chose to walk away on top.

    With Wolfs, Watts has had near total control of the project from beginning to end, something that’s just not part of the Marvel machine’s way of doing business. “Sometimes you do an action movie, and all the fun action stuff is given to the second-unit director,” explained Watts. “On the Marvel movies, you split up the work because there’s so much to be done. Rarely do you get the Christopher Nolan opportunity to do all of it. On this one, I was like, ‘I want to shoot every single shot.’“

    Whether or not Watts finds his way back to the MCU someday remains to be seen; however, it certainly sounds more likely that he’s enjoying the freedom to create from scratch and may continue to explore similar avenues in the future. Watts’ next project, Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, which was filmed in 2022, debuts on Disney Plus on December 3rd.

    Source: THR

  • ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Deleted Scene Keeps Hope Alive for Channing Tatum’s Gambit

    ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Deleted Scene Keeps Hope Alive for Channing Tatum’s Gambit

    Though it has been mildly criticized for doing so, Deadpool & Wolverine took full advantage of the nature of The Void to add some seasoning to the buddy comedy. And while Chris Evans, Jennifer Garner, Daphne Keen and Wesley Snipes each added their own flavor to the mix as part of The Resistance, nobody spiced up the screen as much as Channing Tatum.

    After years of trying to bring Gambit to life, Tatum’s portrayal of the Cajun mutant took general audiences by storm as he took on Cassandra Nova and her cronies. Tatum’s Remy LeBeau stole nearly every scene in which he was featured and became a social media darling following the film’s release. Tatum’s character did indeed make a name for himself, so much so that many–including the film’s star Ryan Reynolds–have called for a continuation of Remy’s story in the MCU. In the days following the release of Deadpool & Wolverine, eagle-eyed fans believed they had spotted a way that might allow for that possibility and now Reynolds has confirmed those theories.

    A month after the film’s July 26th theatrical release, Reynolds took to social media to share a deleted scene from Deadpool & Wolverine that featured Tatum’s Gambit. Set in The Void following the escape of Wade and Logan, the scene shows Gambit become aware of a magical portal–which Reynolds calls a Marvel Sparkle Circle–opening behind him.

    Though it is a deleted scene, Reynolds confirmed that a version of the scene was indeed rolling on a background monitor on the TVA, providing hope that Gambit did escape The Void and could pop up again down the road. With Avengers: Secret Wars set to close the Multiverse Saga and Marvel Studios already hard at work on their own plans for the X-Men, there’s no reason to close the sparkle circle on the possibility of an MCU future for Gambit.

  • ‘Spider-Man 4’ Reportedly Undergoing a Major Overhaul

    ‘Spider-Man 4’ Reportedly Undergoing a Major Overhaul

    Unbelievably, the tenth anniversary of Marvel Studios and Sony’s agreement to enter into an unprecedented collaboration to produce Spider-Man films set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe is just months away. In February 2015, the two studios struck a deal that allowed a then-as-yet uncast actor to star in Marvel Studios-produced and Sony-distributed films while also appearing in other major crossover events made solely by Marvel Studios. Over the next seven years, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker appeared in a total of six projects and became one of the MCU’s most beloved characters.

    In 2021, ahead of the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which put a bow on the MCU-set Spider-Man trilogy, Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, assured fans that development on a fourth Spidey film had already begun in collaboration with Sony. Nearly three years later, while there have been plenty of reports and rumors about Spider-Man 4, there’s been no official word about when to expect the project in theaters.

    Amy [Pascal] and I and Disney and Sony are talking about — yes, we’re actively beginning to develop where the story heads next, which I only say outright because I don’t want fans to go through any separation trauma like what happened after “Far From Home.”

    -Kevin Feige, December 2021
    spider man 4

    Holland reportedly struck a deal to stay on as the Wall-Crawler in 2022 shortly after Feige revealed that Spider-Man and Daredevil were set to lead the MCU’s crew of street-level heroes through the Multiverse Saga. In an early 2023 interview with EW, Feige revealed that the studio cracked the story for Spider-Man 4 and that development on the script had begun. “All I will say is that we have the story,” said Feige. “We have big ideas for that, and our writers are just putting pen to paper now.” Though the work stoppages of 2023 slowed progress on putting that story together, details on the plot of the first installment of the new Spidey trilogy emerged. Spinning, in part, out of the events of the D+ streaming series Daredevil: Born Again, Spider-Man 4 was rumored to feature a “street-level civil war” that would see Spidey and Daredevil gather a team of heroes to take on Wilson Fisk’s Kingpin. With the story in place and production reported to be scheduled for a late 2024 start, a 2025 release for the film seemed possible; however, as time went on without any official word from Sony, fans began to wonder what was going on behind the scenes and with the most recent update indicating there’s been a delay in production that might push the film’s release to 2026, some new information has emerged that might explain why things haven’t gotten underway quite yet.

    According to reliable MCU insider Daniel RPK, Spider-Man 4 is now being developed as a “multiverse” project.

    Though no other details about the new direction of the film, fans have already expressed disappointment in another multiverse project; however, it’s possible that those frustrated fans aren’t looking through the multiversal lens clearly. While the concern about adding multiversal components to the story of Spider-Man 4 is understandable, it does not mean the “street-level civil war” has been removed from the film and could quite possibly point toward Miles Morales swinging into the MCU to join the fray.

    While the distaste for Spider-Man 4 evolving into “another” multiverse project is at least somewhat understandable given that was the premise of Spider-Man: No Way Home, a Peter and Miles team-up would likely be wildly successful. While it wouldn’t have the same R-rated tone as Deadpool & Wolverine, a Spider-Men film would do big business at the box office while allowing Miles to get into the game ahead of Avengers: Secret Wars. Fans of Jonathan Hickman‘s 2015 Marvel Comics event, Secret Wars, will remember just how large of a role Miles played in foiling Doom’s plans, so bringing him on board before the 2027 film would allow for the character to do his thing there while also prepping him as a star for the studio’s post-Multiverse Saga future.

  • The 2026 MCU Theatrical Slate Is Reportedly Changing Yet Again

    The 2026 MCU Theatrical Slate Is Reportedly Changing Yet Again

    To say that Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga has been uneven may be an understatement. It seems, however, that some downtime during the work stoppages of 2023 was fruitful for the studio as it has rolled out a string of well-received projects in 2024. With Deadpool & Wolverine marking a return to form at the box office and Robert Downey Jr. returning to bring the Saga’s new big bad, Victor Von Doom, to life, it seems as though there’s a bright future ahead for Marvel Studios…but what exactly does that future hold?

    Heard into the summer convention circuit, fans were holding out hope that the studio’s head honcho, Kevin Feige, would roll out the all-new, all-different Multiverse Saga slate. Convention season has come and gone, though, and other than a retitled Avengers movie, Feige didn’t pull back the curtain to reveal anything fans didn’t already know. Choosing to focus the studio’s time at SDCC and D23 on its 2025 slate of films and streaming series, the Feigester didn’t shed any light on what films would join Avengers: Doomsday in 2026 instead quietly removing one project from the slate. At the time, fans had some ideas about Marvel’s motives behind the move and now it looks as though they might have been right.

    According to longtime Marvel Studios insider Daniel RPK, Marvel Studios and Sony are currently planning to get production on Spider-Man 4 underway in early 2025 with an eye on having the film ready to release in theaters on July 24, 2026.

    The studios were previously believed to be reporting a Fall 2024 start of production with Sony reportedly pushing for a 2025 debut for the film; however, as we enter the final third of the year, there’s been no word on a director for the project. Should the latest report on Spider-Man 4 hold true, it would join two currently untitled Marvel Studios releases and Avengers: Doomsday on the slate.

    • February 13, 2026: Untitled Marvel Studios Film
    • May 1, 2026: Avengers: Doomsday
    • July 24, 2026: Spider-Man 4
    • November 6, 2026: Untitled Marvel Studios Film

    With a pair of streaming series (Wonder Man and Vision) also expected to be ready for release on Disney Plus, 2026 could be shaping up to be a very bountiful year for Marvel Studios.

  • Robert Downey Jr. Clarifies His New Marvel Studios’ Role

    Robert Downey Jr. Clarifies His New Marvel Studios’ Role

    Marvel Studios swung for the fences at SDCC ’24 by revealing Robert Downey Jr.‘s return to the MCU. Trotting out their biggest star didn’t land quite as well as they had hoped, however, as fans questioned both the logic of recasting Downey as Victor Von Doom and whether or not he’d truly been cast as Doom at all. In the days and weeks following the casting, social media was abuzz with speculation that the character might be revealed as a Tony Stark Variant behind the mask or a reverse-engineered take on Marvel Comics’ Infamous Iron Man. It is the Multiverse Saga, after all, and fans have grown accustomed to the studio’s growing penchant to put their own spin on incoming characters. And so, despite being introduced as Victor Von Doom, fans have continued to wonder just who Downey would be playing in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday. For now, at least, it seems that uncertainty can be laid to rest.

    In an interview with THR, Downey clarified that his return to the MCU was never going to happen by going backward by reprising his role as Tony Stark and that the goal laid out by Marvel Studios Head Honcho Kevin Feige was to “get Victor Von Doom right.“
    SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: Robert Downey Jr. speaks onstage during the Marvel Studios Panel in Hall H at SDCC in San Diego, California on July 27, 2024. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)

    Downey revealed that talks about his return to the studio began in 2023 when, during a conversation with his wife, Susan Downey, and Feige, the Marvel boss said, “It just keeps occurring to me, if you were to come back …” before taking the conversation in a surprising direction. “He brought up Victor Von Doom,” shared Downey, adding, “I looked into this character. Later on, he goes, ‘Let’s get Victor Von Doom right.” And with the blessing of Disney boss Bob Iger, the plan was hatched to bring the Infinity Saga’s brightest star into the struggling Multiverse Saga as the most complex and well-developed villain in the history of Marvel Comics.

    Though he won’t be the first actor to play two roles in the MCU–indeed his Captain America: Civil War co-star Chris Evans just reprised his role as Johnny Storm in Deadpool & Wolverine–he will be the first to fill two roles of the magnitude of Iron Man and Doctor Doom. To that end, should any hint of Tony Stark’s well-known MCU persona come through in his performance as the Beast of the Balkans, fans will begin to question just who is supposed to be behind the mask. Fortunately, Downey–who just won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Oppenheimer–has shown to be more than a one-trick pony over the years and has the requisite skill to disappear behind Doom’s mask and create a brand new persona that fans will have to hope is as mesmerizing and memorable as his time as Iron Man.

    Source: THR

  • Details from Marvel’s Scrapped Avengers Film Reveal One of the Planned Leads

    Details from Marvel’s Scrapped Avengers Film Reveal One of the Planned Leads

    Many Marvel Studios’ projects have faced their own particular challenges over the years but arguably no project had those challenges revealed publicly to the extent of the recently retitled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. A month after the studio ran the Russo brothers and Robert Downey Jr. on stage to reveal the film had become Avengers: Doomsday, details about what could have been have begun to emerge.

    Just days after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu updated the status of the sequel to the 2021 hit, Inverse revealed that Shang-Chi was originally intended to have a major role in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty before the project was retooled.

    “In the original plan for Avengers 5, then called Kang Dynasty, Shang-Chi would’ve been one of the film’s main leads. A lot’s changed since then; Avengers 5 was meant to focus on Kang the Conqueror, but Marvel has since completely retooled the film to introduce Victor Von Doom.”

    -Inverse

    To fans who have followed the project since it was first announced at SDCC ’22, the notion that Shang-Chi was intended to be one of the film’s leads shouldn’t be too shocking. Destin Daniel Cretton, who helmed Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings, was originally set to direct Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and it was often theorized that Shang-Chi’s rings–along with Kamala Khan’s bangle–might play a big role in taking on Kang the Conqueror. However, as things began to fall apart around the project, Cretton stepped away as director of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty as writer Michael Waldron came aboard to retool the script. Despite plans to recast the role of Kang after Jonathan Majors was fired following his very public legal issues, the studio made the decision to move in a different direction earlier this year, removing the subtitle from the film and keeping the new plan under wraps until the big Hall H reveal at SDCC ’24.

    Though no word has come down the pipe on what to expect from writer Stephen McFeely‘s script for the newly announced Avengers: Doomsday, it seems unlikely that the same group of characters intended to lead the charge in The Kang Dynasty will remain at the center of the new project.

    Source: Inverse

  • Simu Liu Updates the Status of ‘Shang-Chi 2’

    Simu Liu Updates the Status of ‘Shang-Chi 2’

    With the third anniversary of the theatrical release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings creeping closer, fans are still waiting for the film’s breakout star, Simu Liu, to return to the MCU. While much of the recent dialogue around Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga centers on the poor performances of several projects, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings still stands as one of the company’s best films post-Endgame, having been both critically and financially successful. Just two months after the film hit theaters during the pandemic in 2021, it was announced that Destin Daniel Cretton inked an overall deal to develop content for Disney including a Shang-Chi sequel.

    Destin is an amazing collaborator who brought a unique perspective and skill to Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings. We had a fantastic time working together on the film and he has so many intriguing ideas for stories to bring to life on Disney+, so we’re thrilled to expand our relationship with him and can’t wait to get started.

    -Kevin Feige on Destin Daniel Cretton, December 2021

    According to Cretton, much of the groundwork for the sequel took place during the filming of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. “While we were shooting, we were throwing around joke ideas of what a sequel could be,” said Cretton who added “There are a lot of ideas that we had in the opener, and some of those ideas are planted as questions, by the end of our movie. There are things that we potentially want to explore in the future.” Despite what sounded like a promising start to a sequel script, the director indicated in a 2021 interview that nothing had moved beyond the “idea stage” and that he’d done no work on a script, saying “I’ve done [zero]. It’s a fun place to be right now. Everything is a possibility. We’re just tossing very loose ideas around and we’ll start to hone in on something, hopefully.“

    I think just what Shaun decides to do with all this newfound power, you know? It kind of consumed his father, consumed Wenwu. I’m curious as to how someone much younger, much more inexperienced, would fare against the rings. Just this idea of all of a sudden being gifted something that’s so powerful but also so dangerous. And then the other big question I have is, you know, in what way does Shaun fit in with the rest of the MCU? Who are you going to see? What kind of crazy team-ups? What kinda tie-ins, Easter eggs? I’m just as much in the dark as everyone else, so I don’t know anything, but I’m excited to dive into that process.

    -Simu Liu on a potential Shang-Chi sequel

    During SDCC ’22, Liu fueled hopes that sequel plans would come to fruition relatively soon, telling the crowd that he was”going to be busy the next few years” and that he’d be starring in “a couple of” projects Marvel Studios announced during the convention. Two years and another SDCC later, Liu’s Shang-Chi still hasn’t returned to the MCU and the sequel still hasn’t been put on Marvel Studios’ slate. It’s an understatement to say that quite a bit has changed behind the scenes at the studio over the last two years and fans have rightfully been worried that the Shang-Chi sequel may have been canceled; however, in a recent interview with Press Trust of India, Liu put those concerns to rest.

    A lot of it is above my pay grade but it’s definitely happening,” said Liu of the sequel, adding, “So just very excited to kind of work on it and it’s going to be amazing. I really can’t say anything beyond that.

    It’s an encouraging update from the film’s star that comes at a time when there simply hasn’t been much information about the project in nearly a year. In late 2023, Cretton was confirmed to still be working on the script while also having stepped down as director of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. With even more changes having taken place at Marvel Studios since then–including the reframing of the entire structure of the Multiverse Saga–it’s unclear what role Shang-Chi will play in the shared narrative over the next few years. Once believed to be integral to mounting a defense against Kang the Conqueror, Shang-Chi’s rings may now have a different purpose with Doctor Doom looming. And while Liu may not be at liberty to discuss just what that purpose is, it is encouraging to know he’s still headed back to the MCU.

    Source: Press Trust of India

  • FanExpo Chicago: Giancarlo Esposito Lets a Potentially Revealing Detail Slip about His ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Villain

    FanExpo Chicago: Giancarlo Esposito Lets a Potentially Revealing Detail Slip about His ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Villain

    After teasing his MCU role for months, Giancarlo Esposito surprised everyone when he revealed he would be playing Seth Voelker, the King of the Serpent Society, in Captain America: Brave New World. A far cry from the characters fans most frequently theorized Esposito would play, Voelker, aka Sidewinder, was a surprise across the board as Marvel insiders had all been led to believe he was playing the even more obscure G.W. Bridge.

    While the appearance of the Serpent Society in Brave New World wasn’t a surprise (set photos revealed a pair of members very early on in production), casting Esposito as its most senior member right smack dab in the middle of the action was. The trailer for the film reveals Sidewinder as an antagonistic agent of chaos and now Esposito may have given away his character’s ultimate goals.

    During an appearance at Chicago’s Fan Expo, Esposito revealed some new information about Sidewinder and, potentially, his motives.

    Presenting Voelker as a great, scientific mind is a change of pace for the character who, in the comics, was more of a criminally minded businessman. However, given the role that the Adamantium race is set to play in Captain America: Brave New World, it seems clear that Sidewinder and his fellow Serpents have their own plans for the mystery metal. And while a scientifically minded Sidewinder is a new take on the character, having a member of the Serpent Society armed with Adamantium would not be. In the comics, Frank Payne, who went by the name Constrictor, was once armed with Adamantium coils that he used to whip and, get this, constrict his enemies.

    Combined with a previous revelation by Espositio that his character will be featured in a streaming series after the events of Brave New World, it sounds as though the Serpent Society is in the MCU to stay. If they are to do so and prove a formidable threat against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, having a man leading the pack who can crack the code of how to utilize Adamantium will prove very valuable.

    Captain America: Brave New World is set for a February 14th, 2025 release.