As the Marvel Cinematic Universe has expanded and grown over the years, fans have learned to expect many things from it. One of those things is that nothing is final and that, in a franchise as large in scope as this, things can change a lot. That extends to both long-term plans for the franchise and immediate plans for the plot of a film. And as a result, the studio adapts and evolves quite regularly, meaning that its projects do the same.
Deleted scenes are a regular aspect of cinema in general, but Marvel has been known to cut and splice projects a bit more regularly over the years. Remember that infamous cut from Avengers: Endgame that involved a scene between Tony Stark and his daughter Morgan? What about that whole alternate arc in the same movie in which Black Widow and Hawkeye attempt to battle Thanos while deciding what to do over the Soul Stone? Sometimes these arcs and scenes just don't make it into the final product.
Reshoots play a large part in this as the studio attempts to improve upon the project after early responses from test audiences. And there was one recent MCU movie in particular that underwent a number of extensive reshoots, some of which involved one major character being cut. Turns out that he wasn't the only one.
Captain America: Brave New World's five cut characters confirmed in new concept art
A new piece of concept art from Captain America: Brave New World has surfaced online and it confirms just how many characters didn't make it into the final cut of the movie. Posted by concept artist Michael Blackbear Uwandi, the image features Anthony Mackie's Captain America and Danny Ramirez's Falcon battling five members of the Serpent Society. Those members are none other than Diamondback, Asp, Cobra, Constrictor, and Rattler.
The idea of some Serpent Society members appearing in the 2025 movie was known, as WWE Superstar Seth Rollins was believed to be playing Klaus Voorhees, a.k.a. King Cobra. Rollins had even filmed scenes for the movie alongside Mackie before the character was ultimately cut from the movie. It was unclear whether he would have been joined by any further Serpent Society members but once he was cut, it was clear that Marvel had opted to move in a different direction.
Rollins' character was then replaced by Giancarlo Esposito's Sidewinder, a character whom Marvel reportedly fast-tracked their plans for to get him involved in this movie instead. Now, to be fair, Sidewinder was the leader of the snake-inspired Serpent Society in the Marvel Comics, so there were some connections to be had there, but it was disheartening - both for Rollins and fans of the Society in the comics - that the original vision for the film was abandoned.
This is actually the second time that Marvel Studios has moved away from the idea of using the Serpent Society in a Captain America movie because 2016's Captain America: Civil War was given an early title of Captain America: Serpent Society, which left fans wondering if it would be primarily focused on the villainous faction. However, plans to adapt the iconic Civil War arc instead were subsequently confirmed by the studio. Considering how pivotal the 2016 film turned out to be to the Avengers and the MCU as a whole, that was undoubtedly the right choice. But still, it's interesting to note that it could have looked very different if Marvel had seriously went down the Serpent Society route.
With Sidewinder potentially set to play a recurring role in the MCU going forward (the character has been captured but he teased an eventual breakout), there is definitely scope for the Serpent Society to make a full-blown MCU debut in the future. It goes without saying that fans would love to see that, especially if it meant that Diamondback, Asp, Cobra, Constrictor, and Rattler finally get to see the light of day.
Mackie's Captain America and Torres' Falcon will now return to the MCU in 2026's Avengers: Doomsday.
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