Giancarlo Esposito could be playing one of these two jaw-dropping MCU characters

The older that the Marvel Cinematic Universe gets, the longer that the line-up of stars it adds to it gets. The franchise that started with heavy-hitters like Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson is no stranger to star-power; but in its current iteration, it has begun working with even more, with Olivia Colman, Harrison Ford, and Mahershala Ali all joining the fray.

Another name who surprised people by revealing that he had been cast in the MCU is Giancarlo Esposito. The actor, best known for his iconic performance as Gus Fring in Breaking Bad, recently stunned fans with the revelation that he had joined the Marvel Studios franchise. Though he didn't outright reveal who he would be playing, he did suggest that it was something of an unexpected role that fans hadn't brought up to him before.

Now, a new rumor suggests that he could be playing one of these two characters. Both are extremely different, but both are major to their respective films.

Giancarlo Esposito rumored to play one of these major MCU roles

According to Marvel scooper HolyField News, Giancarlo Esposito could be cast as either Lucas Cross in the upcoming Blade movie, or as Norman Osborn the Spider-Man saga. Though the insider didn't say whether Marvel Studios had decided on either role for the actor to play, they did state in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that they heard he could be playing one of them.

It goes without saying that Esposito would be a great choice for either role, as he is capable of adding gravitas to any character that he plays. The character with the most long-term potential would undoubtedly be Osborn. HolyField News comments that, if he were cast in the role, he could end up voicing the character in animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (formerly titled Spider-Man: Freshman Year), as well as playing him in live-action in Spider-Man 4.

As Marvel fans will know, Norman Osborn is an important character in Spider-Man lore. The founder of Oscorp and father of Harry Osborn, he eventually transforms into the villainous Green Goblin. He's a complex character, wracked with guilt and struggle over his split personality, and that was no clearer than it was when Willem Dafoe appeared as his version of the Green Goblin (from the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies) in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Needless to say Esposito would do a wonderful job of dramatizing that, too, if he were to play the MCU's iteration of Norman.

Lucas Cross is a somewhat lesser-known character but that doesn't mean he's any less complex. The long-lost father of Blade in the comics, he was convicted of a crime he didn't commit while he was also dying of cancer. But when his fellow inmate, a vampire, also turned him into a creature of the night, he was able to break free and survive. He then becomes an adversary of his son's, attempting to gain his trust in a bid to get him to fulfill a prophecy by drinking a young girl's blood.

The thought of seeing Esposito share the screen with Mahershala Ali's daywalker in Blade is goosebump-inducing, and it goes without saying that it would make for a powerful scene.

Fans originally wanted him to play an X-Men character

Prior to the announcement that Giancarlo Esposito had been cast in the MCU, he had long been a fan-favorite choice for the franchise, with him appearing in countless fan-castings, particularly for the X-Men. Yes, a lot of fans had envisioned him playing the mutants' leader Professor Charles Xavier, while others wanted him to play the professor's long-time friend-turned-enemy Magneto.

It's hard to argue with any of those choices because the truth is that an actor the caliber of Esposito would be able to deliver a captivating performance as either one of them. And the same goes for Lucas Cross or Norman Osborn. While Marvel has yet to confirm the rumors about Espostio playing either one of those characters, it is more likely that he could be cast in one of those roles than the aforementioned X-Men characters. Granted, there is an X-Men movie officially in development, but the actor revealed that he had been cast in a role different from the ones fans were fan-casting him in. That doesn't necessarily rule out Magneto, but it certainly rules out Professor X.

Esposito is a natural when it comes to playing villainous roles. He was deliciously evil as Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, so there is no doubt that he could bring that theatrical nature to another in the MCU. If it's Magneto, he would chew up the scenery with ease, all while adding layers to the character with his nuanced performance - and the same goes for Norman Osborn or Lucas Cross.

It's always best to take rumors with a grain of salt until confirmed by Marvel or Esposito himself, but the legendary actor is going to appear in the MCU in some capacity and that is very exciting indeed. The possibility of him playing one of those two characters only adds to that excitement.