After weeks of teasing an upcoming appearance in a mystery Marvel movie, actor Giancarlo Esposito’s role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been revealed. Well, mostly. In a new report about reshoots for the upcoming “Captain America: Brave New World,” a film starring Anthony Mackie, THR reveals that Esposito’s secret role is in that film. Not much else is known, including who the actor actually plays, but his role is said to be villainous and rumored to be something more like a cameo.
Esposito, known for antagonistic turns in “Breaking Bad,” “The Mandalorian,” and more recently, Guy Ritchie’s “The Gentleman,” teased recently that audiences would find out his role “sooner rather than later,” and he wasn’t wrong. Esposito has also claimed his character will also turn up in a series, or his own series, depending on how to interpret his comments (given Marvel is dialing back on Disney+ shows, it seems unlikely a villain would get his own series, so it’s likely he means, he’ll turn up in an upcoming show).
READ MORE: Giancarlo Esposito Teases MCU Role & Says He’ll Show Up In A Series Also
As for “Captain America: Brave New World,” well, the reshoot details in The Hollywood Reporters piece are heartening. Early reports suggested that ‘Brave New World’ could be reshot for several months, indicating the picture was in trouble and was experiencing a significant overhaul.
To be fair, Marvel Studios hired a new writer for the reshoots and injected an entirely new character into the film with Esposito’s part, which is not insignificant. However, THR says the reshoots will only run for 22 days, and among the scenes added are the new action sequences for filmmaker Julius Onah (“The Cloverfield Paradox”) to direct. In fact, ‘Brave New World’s 22-day reshoot period is much shorter than the extensive reshoots that “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” underwent in 2021, lasting about six weeks, so if fans were worried, perhaps this is more optimistic news.
“Captain America: Brave New World” wrapped production in the spring of 2023, but once Marvel reviewed the footage, they decided they needed reshoots and pushed the film from a summer 2024 release date to February 2025. While that’s a huge delay in many ways, the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA writer’s Strike meant the film had to wait many months to be worked on, including hiring a new writer.
‘Brave New World’ essentially picks up after the events of “The Falcon & The Winter Soldier” series and centers on Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson continuing with the Captain America mantle. At CinemaCon earlier this year, Marvel’s Kevin Feige called the movie a “relatively grounded action film” and promised “no aliens, no alien invasions, no time travel.” The film has also been touted as a political action thriller in the vein of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”
‘Brave New World’ also features Harrison Ford as the MCU’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, now the President of the United States in the Marvel timeline, Danny Ramirez as the new Falcon, Shira Haas as Sabra, Rosa Salazar and two characters from Marvel’s 2008 “The Incredible Hulk” film, including Liv Tyler reprising her role as Betty Ross and Tim Blake Nelson as the Leader, who sounds like the main antagonist.