Of all the mistakes made by Captain America: Brave New World, its most egregious might be its misuse of Giancarlo Esposito, a late addition folded in during one of many rounds of reshoots. Marvel kept the Breaking Bad actor’s role under wraps for months, but at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, the studio revealed that Esposito would be bringing a notorious group of villains, the Serpent Society, into the MCU. That announcement quelled some doubts about Brave New World, at least for a little while. Sure, production had been troubled, but how bad could a movie with Esposito in it really be?
For what it’s worth, Brave New World isn’t outright terrible so much as disappointing. There are glimmers of an exciting story in the finished product, especially when Esposito’s Sidewinder gets to share the screen with the new Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). Sidewinder, a mercenary hired by the film’s true villain to destabilize President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford), is the catalyst for the action here. He’s also presented as a major threat to Sam, launching an assassination attempt in a scene that harkens back to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Ultimately, though, Sidewinder is reduced to a plot device. The new Cap quickly defeats him, but before he’s touted off to prison he warns Sam that he’ll be back for revenge.
