Actor Giancarlo Esposito is making his MCU debut in Captain America: Brave New World as one of the film's villains, the notorious terrorist known as Sidewinder. And as you might expect, Sidewinder comes straight from comic books – but as is often the case with the MCU, the Marvel Comics version of the character is quite different, with a vastly different look.
We don't actually know much about Esposito's version of Sidewinder just yet, except that he'll serve as a villainous foil for Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson/Captain America. On the other hand, Sidewinder has a long comic book history that could potentially inform how he fits into Brave New World.
Sidewinder was originally created by beloved writer Mark Gruenwald, legendary artist George Pérez, and editor Ralph Macchio (no relation to the Karate Kid) in 1980's Marvel Two-In-One #65. In his civilian guise as economist Seth Voelker, he's hired by the villainous Roxxon Corporation as an analyst. But things take a turn when Voelker discovers Roxxon's secret genetic experiments.
In a strange twist, rather than following the standard supervillain origin of being experimented on against his will, Voelker actually volunteers to be part of Roxxon's program. Roxxon's scientists implant a cybernetic chip in his head that controls a specially designed cloak which allows him to teleport.
Taking the name Sidewinder, Voelker joins the criminal mercenary group known as the Serpent Squad, a team of Captain America villains dating back to the '70s. Later, Voelker's version of the group evolves into the Serpent Society, a vast team of snake-themed supervillains who all operate under Sidewinder's leadership, with the villain using his teleportation powers to keep them out of prison while also providing his recruits with a guaranteed salary and even health insurance like a legitimate job.
Voelker later retired from being a supervillain (at least temporarily – he's since become Sidewinder again a few times), with another villain (whose real name has never been revealed) briefly taking up the Sidewinder identity before dying on his first mission.
A third Sidewinder, Gregory Bryan, also joined the Serpent Society before taking the team in a new direction as the corporation-style villain group Serpent Solutions. This version of the team became enemies of Sam Wilson early in his career as Captain America, potentially suggesting the movie version of Sidewinder will be Gregory Bryan.
Bryan appeared as Sidewinder in the recent comic limited series Avengers Assemble, which released its final issue on January 22, so Sidewinder is very much a part of the current Marvel Universe in comics.
Though we don't know much about Captain America: Brave New World's version of Sidewinder, we do know that he seems to be quite different from his comic book counterpart. The most obvious difference is their appearance, with Giancarlo Esposito's version dressing like a more normal looking mercenary, with splashes of the color palette of the original comic version's gaudy outfit.
At the same time, the MCU version of Sidewinder also seems to be a weapons master with an arsenal of guns and explosives. In comics, while Sidewinder is certainly willing to use deadly weapons, he more often relies on the powers of his costume, especially his teleportation cloak, than run-of-the-mill firearms and bombs.
We're only weeks away from the February 14 release of Captain America: Brave New World, so we won't have to wait long to find out how Sidewinder will fit into the plot. Though he seems like a supporting character, with a powerhouse actor like Giancarlo Esposito in the role, who fans have been hoping will join the MCU for years, we're betting that his role will wind up bigger than it seems.
While you wait for Captain America: Brave New World, check out our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order and the Marvel timeline.
