Giancarlo Esposito Says His MCU Role Will Be "Badass"

The MCU has a way of absorbing successful actors into its universe. It will take someone who has had a career upswing or recent success and turn them into a one-off villain whose motivations are spotty at best. There have been over 20 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Still, the villains end up (mostly) being the least interesting part. Hopefully, Giancarlo Esposito’s new role in the franchise falls in the latter category.

Esposito has had a dynamic career. He has appeared in various kinds of roles over the years, always bringing a signature energy and talent. The actor has been a consummate supporting player, turning in one memorable performance after another. Still, few have affected his career like Gustavo Fring has. The cold and calculated chicken (and meth) dealer menaced characters in Breaking Bad so well that Esposito has been cast almost exclusively as a villain ever since.

It works for him. Even if some of the characters he plays are written in a similar manner, Giancarlo always imbues them with something to make them special. You can spot big and small differences in every performance. Still, he has played so many villains at this point that people have assumed he would terrorize the MCU at some point. Now, that is happening. Esposito will play a surprise villain in Captain America 4, and he thinks fans will love it.

Speaking with Deadline, Giancarlo Esposito teased his new role in a universe full of Avengers. “In my other life, I’m a real badass, and you’ve seen me play a little bit of that intellectually as Gus Fring, but when you see me in the MCU, you’re going to see a badass, and I’m excited for that,” the actor explained. He also hinted at the physicality he’ll bring to the role, saying, “Acting is using every part of your body, your emotions, your senses, your feelings, to portray something. But you haven’t seen me use my body in a way that I’ll be using it.”

Details about Esposito’s character are still underwraps. Though it has been rumored that it will be more than just a one off, in a similar vein to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s menacing Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. It could be that the MCU has learned their lesson about snatching up wonderful actors to play villains once and then discarding them. But then again, I don’t expect anyone to learn anything ever. So, probably not.

Giancarlo Esposito on his character and making his MCU debut in ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ : “I’m a real badass” pic.twitter.com/Jx4HkEIRfp

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) June 25, 2024