The director of “Captain America: Brave New World” revealed this week why WWE star Seth Rollins was cut from the movie. And it seems like it simply boiled down to the chance for Marvel Studios to get a bigger star into the film instead.
“Captain America: Brave New World” opens in theaters across North America next week. And the impressive cast of filmmakers for the new Marvel Studios movie are out promoting the latest addition to the MCU. However, one person who won’t be doing the media rounds to talk about the movie is WWE legend Seth Rollins.
Rollins made headlines last year when it was reported that he landed a role in the highly-anticipated film. He was reportedly set to play a member of the long-time team of Marvel Comics baddies The Serpent Society. However, late last year it was revealed that Rollins’ scenes in the film had been cut.
No specific reason was given for why he would not appear in the movie. Well, that was cleared up this week by none other than movies direct Julius Onah. And it seems Seth Rollins was bumped once they had the chance to work with “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” star Giancarlo Esposito.
Seth Rollins was dropped from Captain America 4 to make room for Giancarlo Esposito
“When you’re taking characters like Serpent Society from publishing, who are individuals dressed up as snakes and have snake-adjacent powers, you’re always iterating and trying to figure out the version that totally works best in a movie like this,” Onah told ComicBook.com. “I love Seth. But as we were evolving we knew we had an additional photography period. We were trying to figure out, ‘Hey, who’s somebody that can bring a very specific kind of gravitas that works with this tone?’
“And when Giancarlo became available, it was such a no-brainer. I have a very particular history with him. He’s iconic for working with Spike Lee. I interned with Spike Lee when I was 19 years old. And, of course, fans have been fan-casting him for a long time in the MCU. So it’s really about making sure that all the elements worked in the grounded tone and vision that I have for this film.”
So in the end, the version of the Serpent Society that was filmed didn’t fit the world Marvel has built. And the chance to bring in a highly-respected actor like Esposito was too good on opportunity for the studio to pass on.
