Captain America: Brave New World director addresses the reshoots, losing Seth Rollins, and adding Giancarlo Esposito

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has hit some speed bumps recently. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels under-performed at the box office and some of the Disney+ shows were poorly received… but the universe rebounded with the success of Deadpool & Wolverine last year, and the next addition to the MCU, Captain America: Brave New World, is set to reach theatres on February 14th. The film went into production in March of 2023, with filming lasting through June. In December of ’23, another screenwriter was brought onto the project to write new material for reshoots, which seemed to be quite substantial. It was said that the reshoots were primarily done to rework three major action sequences – and this included adding Giancarlo Esposito into the mix as Sidewinder, the leader of the Serpent Society, while also dropping a Serpent Society character that was played by wrestler Seth Rollins. During an interview with ComicBook.com, director Julius Onah said that shake-up was part of the creative team figuring out how they should present the Serpent Society on screen.

Here’s the official information on the film, straight from Marvel: Anthony Mackie returns as the high-flying hero, who’s officially taken up the mantle of Captain America. Harrison Ford makes his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as newly-elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, a role originated by the late William Hurt. Ross and Sam have a bit of a history: In his previous role as Secretary of State, Ross was responsible for arresting Sam and his fellow Avengers during the events of Captain America: Civil War. Now as president, Ross is eager to work with Sam, hoping to make Captain America an official military position. But that tentative alliance is jeopardized when Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident, with friend and retired super-soldier Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) as the prime suspect. Sam’s investigation send him on a dangerous chase, and (leading to) a deadly showdown and a tease of the menacing Red Hulk. Danny Ramirez returns as former Air Force lieutenant Joaquin Torres, who’s picked up Sam’s old wings and taken on the role of Falcon. Tim Blake Nelson is also back as Samuel Sterns, AKA The Leader, appearing in the MCU for the first time since 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. New to the cast is Shira Haas, who joins as Ruth Bat-Seraph. A former Black Widow, Ruth is now a high-ranking U.S. government official who has the trust of President Ross. Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, and Xosha Roquemore also star. The film is directed by Julius Onah and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. Louis D’Esposito and Charles Newirth serve as executive producers. Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, and Rob Edwards crafted the story for the film. Onah receives screenplay credit alongside Peter Glanz and Matthew Orton (Orton being the writer who was brought on for the reshoots).

Onah told ComicBook.com, “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. I love Seth Rollins, 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 Esposito 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. 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.“

Are you looking forward to Captain America: Brave New World? What do you think of Seth Rollins being cut and Giancarlo Esposito added? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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