Brave New World’ Director Debunks Serpent Society Rumors

DGIX

February 18, 2025

Captain America: Brave New World featured a covert criminal organization named Serpent Society in the opening action sequence of the film. Giancarlo Esposito plays their leader, Sidewinder, who goes head-to-head with Sam Wilson aka Captain America (Anthony Mackie) throughout the Marvel sequel. However, the villainous group was supposed to look a lot different before reshoots made them look indistinguishable from any other generic crime syndicate. Among those removed from the final version of Brave New World is WWE star Seth Rollins, who was supposed to be a lead member of the Serpent Society.

During an interview with the Phase Hero podcast (via ThatHashtagShow), Brave New World director Julius Onah was asked about the elephant in the room in regards to the Serpent Society. The filmmaker confirms that they tinkered with the group until they found a version that best matched the tone of the movie. This included adding Esposito as Sidewinder, who now serves as the sole recognizable face of the Serpent Society. However, while he does reference Rollins having a role in Brave New World, he says it was not Copperhead.

“He was not the guy in the church. Obviously, there’s a rogues gallery with Serpent Society and we were looking at what is the version of Serpent Society that feels the most grounded within the tone and the style and the texture of this film. With Giancarlo, Sidewinder just felt great as a leader of Serpent Society, to introduce them for the first time, but Seth was not Copperhead, no.”

Although Onah clarifies that Rollins was not going to be Copperhead, a prominent member of the Serpent Society, it’s hard not to see the resemblance to King Cobra. When Brave New World began production, it did not take long for images from the set to leak online, revealing a very different, more comic-accurate design for the villain group. Rollins was among those wearing serpent-style gear, but it seems it was a bit much for a Captain America film that wanted to replicate the grounded tone of The Winter Soldier. Hopefully, the WWE star will find his way back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even if it’s not as a snake-themed villain.

‘Captain America 4’s Serpent Society Nearly Featured This ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ Star

Notably absent from Julius Onah’s statement is another major exclusion from the final cut of Captain America: Brave New World — Rosa Salazar. The Alita: Battle Angel star shot scenes for the film before reshoots completely remade the Serpent Society with Giancarlo Esposito now at the center as their leader, Sidewinder. She was supposed to play Rachel Leighton, also known as Diamondback. For those who have seen the set images featuring Salazar, it’s understandable that the filmmakers wanted to further ground the villainous group within the grander conspiracy plot. However, it’s disappointing to know that it took millions of dollars and time to shoot these actors for the filmmakers to come to this conclusion.

‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Needs To Reach This Box Office Milestone To Be Considered a Success

Can ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ overcome mixed critical and audience reactions to break even?

The intriguing part about Salazar’s absence is that many believed that, even after the reshoots, she would still make the final cut. Although Seth Rollins was not included during additional photography, Salazar returned as Diamondback during reshoots last summer. This time, she was seen with her comic-accurate punk hair and a different costume. In fact, she was such a late removal that McDonald’s had toys made of Diamondback with an extremely faithful super-suit and superpowers. Captain America: Brave New World benefited from keeping things grounded in reality, but it begs the question of why the Serpent Society was included in the first place.