5 Characters Giancarlo Esposito Could Be Playing In The MCU

After revealing that he had been cast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Giancarlo Esposito has issued more information on his role and where he may appear.

While on stage for an event at CCXP in early May, the Breaking Bad actor revealed that he has joined the MCU. While he didn’t say much more, he did reveal two things: He wasn’t playing Professor X and you will see him on screen sooner rather than later. 

It’s unusual for actors to reveal that they’ve been cast by Marvel before it is officially announced, due to the secretive nature of the films. Giancarlo has circumvented that, as he doubled down earlier this week, revealing an even bigger tidbit about his potential role. 

At 2024’s Phoenix Fan Fusion event, the Better Call Saul star revealed the following:

“The MCU has knocked on my door and it’s a role you won’t predict. It will be teased and there will be a series afterwards.”

Giancarlo Esposito – 2024’s Phoenix Fan Fusion event

While it’s unclear what Esposito was implying by saying it will be teased, it’s clear that his character will mainly appear in a TV show.

 It’s possible the character may debut in a movie in a post credit scene. It’s also possible that the tease is referring to an official Marvel event like San Diego Comic Con or something along those lines.

Here are our 5 best guesses for the role Giancarlo could be playing and where we anticipate that role could appear.

Annihilus

Show: Nova

Annihilus is an interdimensional insectoid villain from the negative zone, a parallel dimension composed of antimatter. His entire purpose is to conquer as many realities as he possibly can. 

He is famously known for being one of the main antagonists of both Nova and the Fantastic Four. Marvel Studios is developing a Nova series for Disney+. It’s entirely possible that Annihilus could appear as the main villain of the show. 

While the character may not be a saga level threat like Thanos or Kang the Conqueror, the character is on par with Ultron in terms of threat level and would make for a good secondary villain to the saga.

It’s possible they use the Nova show to introduce the character in some capacity before giving him bigger sights. It would be a perfect fit for Esposito.

Blue Marvel

Show: Nova

Adam Brasher, aka Blue Marvel, has been rumored to appear in the MCU since WandaVision. Many expected the character to either show up there, or in The Marvels. As it turns out, he was in neither.

The character would see Giancarlo finally getting the chance to play a good guy in a major film/show, unlike some of his other roles. This would have to be an older version of the character, but it could be a good fit, especially because the character is famous for being old but looking younger, as one of his powers includes aging slowly.

Blue Marvel could appear anywhere but Nova is the best possible fit if Giancarlo ends up playing this character. Potentially acting as a mentor for the character, as they both have incredibly powerful cosmic powers akin to those of Captain Marvel. Marvel has said they want to do longer TV shows so Blue Marvel would certainly fit as a character who can have his own storyline while interacting with Nova’s.

Mister Fear

Show: Daredevil: Born Again

A new Daredevil series will premiere in spring 2025. While originally announced to feature 18 episodes, the show reportedly only shot 9 episodes. It has, however, been reported that they will film more episodes later this year, so it’s likely the show will get to 18 episodes, whether that be through two parts or two separate seasons.

Mister Fear could fit the bill as a secondary villain. The character has had four different iterations, all as villains to Daredevil, so the writers have a lot to choose from. Mister Fear is primarily known for employing chemicals that induce anxiety, fear, panic, and sometimes nightmarish hallucinations in his victims.

This would be perfect for Matt Murdock to further fight his demons in the same way Batman does with Scarecrow. Giancarlo would shine in a role like this.

One version of the character attended the same law that Matt Murdock did, so it’s entirely possible that the storyline could be used for both past and present events.

 Norman Osborne

Show: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

If I had to put money on my best guess, this is it. From the concept art released for the upcoming show, there is a striking resemblance between the depiction of the character and Esposito. The actor has lent his voice to various projects, including The Jungle Book, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, and Harley Quinn as DC villain Lex Luthor. 

This could also give Esposito an opportunity to jump into the smaller leagues before making his live action debut as the character. It’s easy to see the actor being able to portray the nuances behind Norman both through the voice and potentially on screen in a future Tom Holland led Spider-Man film. 

It’s also possible he only voices Norman and shows up as a different character on the big screen instead. Point is, voicing Norman gives Giancarlo a lot of possibilities to do double duty for Marvel Studios.

Being In An Unannounced Show

It’s clear that Giancarlo has been cast into a project that is relatively soon, as he says, but it’s entirely possible that the show may be unannounced. There are a lot of characters that would fit this category. Here are a few.

Nathaniel Richards, aka Kang, travelled from the future to ancient Egypt. He takes over and becomes the ruler of Egypt, proclaiming himself Rama-Tut. This could be a very promising premise for the character in Moon Knight Season 2.

Maestro is another character Giancarlo could fit. For those who don’t know, Maestro is an alternative future version of Bruce Banner. It would be interesting for them to choose a different actor to portray the role because of how different they truly are.

Dracula could be teased in the Blade solo film set for 2025 and then feature more heavily in a potential Black Knight or Elsa Bloodstone led series. The character would blend in perfectly with either series.

The truth is, it’s most likely going to be someone we don’t expect, and this list may as well be wrong. I’m confident in some of these, but it’s hard to tell with such little information. It’s a fun list, purely for discussion. 

Tell us who you think Giancarlo Esposito will be playing in the MCU or rather, who you want him to play.

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