This Captain America: Brave New World concept art shows off a wildly different look for one of the newest Marvel Cinematic Universe villains. Not all concept art drafted for Marvel Studios’ projects is realized on-screen, and, in fact, some incredibly exciting and interesting scenes and characters from concept art have unfortunately been omitted from the MCU. This includes memorable moments such as the Avengers’ battle against a mega-Ultron, the Scarlet Witch’s recent murder spree, Hawkeye getting a superhero suit years before his Disney+ series, and even a more grounded and dark Guardians of the Galaxy.
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Concept artist Michael Uwandi, who has worked on projects including Moon Knight, Predator: Killer of Killers, Westworld, and more, has now shared a very different design for Seth Voelker’s Sidewinder from 2025’s Captain America: Brave New Word. The concept art reveals that Sidewinder and his Serpent Society teammates almost sported snakeskin-like nanotech masks to hide their identities. Uwandi describes this as a “‘first phase’ transformation” for the Serpent Society, hinting at more physical transformations after their initial battle against Sam Wilson’s Captain America (Anthony Mackie).
Why Wasn’t This Concept Art Used in Captain America: Brave New World?
The Serpent Society went through many changes during the production of Captain America: Brave New World. Initially, the criminal group – adapted from the Marvel Comics villain team who first appeared in 1985’s Captain America #310 – would have comprised snake-themed characters portrayed by Seth Rollins and Rosa Salazar. Ultimately, both these characters were cut to make room for Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson’s Copperhead and the group’s leader, Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder. They did not have any snake-themed enhancements, however, distancing themselves from their Marvel Comics counterparts and their appearances in MCU concept art.
Uwandi drafted this concept art before Esposito (Breaking Bad, The Mandalorian, The Boys) was cast in the role of Sidewinder. This explains why the art doesn’t look like Esposito at all, and it was perhaps the beloved actor’s casting in the role that urged Marvel Studios to change direction, as audiences will have wanted to see Esposito’s face. Even so, it would have been fantastic to give the Serpent Society more comic-accurate looks and abilities, rather than making them little more than mercenaries, but future MCU projects could redeem Captain America: Brave New World’s mistakes.
Prior to Captain America: Brave New World’s release in February 2025, Giancarlo Esposito teased Sidewinder’s return in a future MCU series. While he hasn’t yet been confirmed to be reprising the role in the future, there are many places where Sidewinder and the Serpent Society could return. If this happens after Avengers: Secret Wars resets the MCU, Marvel will have the perfect opportunity to introduce a more comic-accurate, superpower iteration of the team, which will pose an even bigger threat to Captain America.
Did you enjoy Giancarlo Esposito’s debut as Sidewinder in Captain America: Brave New World? Do you want to see him return? Let us know in the comments!
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