Captain America 4's Giancarlo Esposito Responds to X-Men Casting Rumors (Exclusive)

The actor thinks fans will be quite surprised by who he's playing in the new sequel.

Thanks to his breakout role in Breaking Bad as Gus Fring, actor Giancarlo Esposito has not only earned a number of exciting roles in the years since that series concluded, but he's also become a figure that fans regularly speculate about as the best choice for various other iconic figures. Esposito is confirmed to be appearing in Captain America: Brave New World as an unidentified character, despite having spent years endorsing the idea of playing a character like the X-Men's Professor X, though Esposito admitted those endorsements were merely his way of showing love to fans. Esposito can next be seen in MaXXXine, which hits theaters on July 5th.

"The fans really started the Professor X rumor and I loved it. I went along for the ride because I love the fans," Esposito shared with ComicBook in response to his Captain America casting likely preventing him from becoming Professor X in support of MaXXXine. "I started thinking about Professor X, because I feel like that could be a character that I would really excel at, and really be great in. They also talked about Magneto, they also talked about [DC's Mr.] Freeze, all of those things. I am so happy to be in the MCU. I'm happy that you don't know what I'm doing there and I'm happy that I probably don't know what I'm doing there, but I'm happy to be there and you're going to see it soon."

With MaXXXine being the third entry in Ti West's series of horror films that started with X, Esposito also shared his excitement that he knows fans of this series will feel, detailing, "Look, I love the fans. And I think the fans are going to love this movie. And the fan connection to these three movies have us realizing a lot. Thank goodness for A24, that they were able to take Ti's ideas and bring all this together."

Given that Captain America: Brave New World doesn't release in theaters until February 14, 2025, it could be quite some time before audiences learn what character Esposito will be playing.

MaXXXine is described, "In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past." Starring in the movie are Mia Goth, Kevin BaconElizabeth DebickiGiancarlo EspositoHalseyLily CollinsMichelle Monaghan, and Moses Sumney.

Stay tuned for updates on Captain America: Brave New World and see MaXXXine in theaters on July 5th.  

Are you looking forward to seeing Esposito's MCU debut? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror