Summary
Captain America: Brave New Worldhas evolved to include a ton of interesting new additions to the MCU, but one of the film’s more prominent castings managed to fall by the wayside during the film’s restructuring, and now the director behind that decision has cleared the air on why.
Captain America: Brave New Worldis set to be the first film featuring the MCU’s new Cap, Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson, in his role as the titular hero. The film has also been confirmed to feature a more grounded story better suited to Wilson’s non-super-soldier abilities and goals, with fans getting a political thriller set in the MCU instead of the franchise’s usual over-the-top fare. In addition to this special premise, the film is also set to feature a lot of interesting new and returning characters, with fans being given a new Falcon, Harrison Ford’s franchise debut, and behind-the-scenes photos from the film setconfirming that WWE superstar Seth Rollins would also be starring in itduring the production cycle.
While the rest of the cast remained intact, Rollins would reveal in an appearance on top wrestling interviewer Chris Van Vleit’s program thathe’d been totally cut out fromCaptain America: Brave New Worldand wouldn’t be part of the project going forward. This initially confused fans, as the superstar didn’t have many details at the time, but now things have been cleared up. In a recent interview withComicbookahead of the film’s Valentine’s Day premiere,Captain America: Brave New Worlddirector Julius Onah weighed in on why things worked out that way. “You know, when you’re taking characters like Serpent Society from publishing, who, as you know, are individuals dressed up as snakes and have snake-adjacent powers, you’re always iterating and trying to figure out the version that totally works best in a movie like this,” Onah prefaced, eventually revealing that it was a matter of best fit for him and for the project. “I love Seth; Seth’s incredible. But as we were evolving and we knew we had an additional photography period, just one that we did early on in the process that’s planned. We were trying to figure out, ‘hey, who’s somebody that can bring a very specific kind of gravitas that works with this tone.’ And when Giancarlo became available, it was such a no-brainer. I have a very particular history with him. He’s iconic for working with Spike Lee. I interned with Spike Lee when I was 19 years old.”
It’s hard to argue with this logic, as many filmmakers favor actors they’re familiar with and those pairings often lead to impressive performances and characters that seem tailor-made for the stars portraying them. However, that wasn’t all that inspired the decision to make the switch. Onah also confirmed that the addition ofGiancarlo Esposito and the long-kept secret surrounding hisCaptain America 4rolehad a lot to do with the fans as well. “And of course, fans have been fan-casting him for a long time in the MCU. So it’s really about making sure that all the elements worked in the grounded tone and vision that I have for this film. And as we evolved and iterated, Giancarlo just made sense. And what a blessing to have in this film,” Onah said.
Having a WWE mainstay like Seth Rollins on the cast list forBrave New Worldwould have certainly had a ton of marketing advantages on the face of it,and Rollings himself has some acting experience in Hollywood in addition to his pro-wrestling promo skills. However, it’s hard to argue that a Esposito would be a better addition, as he’s a legendary actor at this point and much more well-prepared for work in a big franchise, as seen from his work onThe BoysandStar Wars.It’s also not impossible to argue that Rollin’s involvement has already brought the desired attention to the project, whether or not he makes it into the final cut. The more pressing consideration is if the role is worthy of Esposito, as it wasn’t anyone’s first guess or fan casting for him. In fact, arumored MCU role for Esposito as Professor Xavierin the franchise’s inevitableX-Menproject was far more prominent than any chance of him making a debut inCaptain America.Fans will have to wait and see what Onah has in mind for the beloved veteran, but it’s sure to be competently handled and perfectly delivered.
While there are indeed tons ofMarvel characters that Esposito could be portraying in the MCU, the decision to have him debut as a villain that seems destined to be a one-off is a bit discouraging. However, as Robert Downey Jr. has shown, that casting doesn’t have to be the final word on the star’s work in the franchise. Whatever else he may do, fans can still look forward to an awesome performance from Esposito inCaptain America: Brave New World, even if he won’t be curb-stomping anyone onscreen.
Captain America: Brave New Worldis set for theatrical release on 26 May 2025.
Captain America: Brave New World
Captain America: Brave New World (formerly titledNew World Order)marks Sam Wilson’s first MCU big-screen appearance as Steve Rogers' successor after receiving the suit and shield in Phase 4’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Anthony Mackie returns as the titular Avenger alongside Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, Carl Lumby as Isaiah Bradley, and Tim Blake Nelson as The Incredible Hulk’s former ally Samuel Sterns. Harrison Ford makes his MCU debut replacing the late William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross.
