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It’s a well-known fact that Captain America: Brave New World underwent significant reshoots before reaching theaters in the form it took — and now, director Julius Onah is opening up about what the movie looked like before those reshoots took place.

“Going into our additional photography that we planned from the very beginning, we knew that would always be our opportunity to refine how the Serpent Society would work in the film,” Onah told Variety, confirming earlier reports that Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder was a very late addition to the movie and only added during reshoots. “The great thing about Giancarlo is he can take things that could feel fantastical and make them feel grounded. It just felt we had like we triangulated on the perfect actor to be Sidewinder, to lead Serpent Society and to bring them into the MCU.”

Before those reshoots, however, there was apparently a very different version of the Serpent Society that almost made it into the movie. “As we were iterating through how to bring them into the MCU, we leaned into versions that were a bit more heightened and also versions that were a bit more grounded,” Onah explained. “You always want to honor publishing. You always want to honor what the fans love, but at the same time you want to do what’s right for the movie. So I wouldn’t say it was ever what it was in the comics, but it leaned towards that a little bit more. As we got further in our process, it was just clear, this wants to sit in a [grounded] tone. I was trying to bring references like The Day of the Jackal and Point Blank, procedural, paranoid and political thrillers, and having a Serpent Society that felt more grounded would make more sense.”

Wait, does that mean we almost got to see villains actually dressed up as snakes just like their comic book counterparts? Was there a version of this movie where Giancarlo dressed up as a big golden snake man and we didn’t get to see it?!?

Well, suddenly I know what I’m hoping for from the sequel, if nothing else.

Captain America: Brave New World is in theaters now.

Keep up to date on Popverse's Marvel coverage, with these highlights:

• The MCU needs Anya Taylor-Joy's Magik in it (and not just for the X-Men connection)
• How Disney+'s What If...? is the moonshot for the next 50 years of Marvel Studios & the MCU
• Marvel Studios has accidentally created a new Phase that predates Phases 1 - 6: the MCU Phase Zero
• Overgrown children of the atom: Marvel's X-Men can't evolve past their '90s commercial peak
• The biggest outstanding questions of the Marvel Studios' movies & TV shows
• Donald Trump is the landlord for Marvel's House of Ideas
• Marvel Studios swapping out Doctor Doom for Kang offers the chance to jettison the Multiverse Saga
• What Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige is saying (and not saying) about the MCU X-Men franchise says a lot about the future of the Mutant Saga
• If Marvel is going to bring Loki back for Secret Wars, it's time to give him an upgrade
• In 2021, Sony's boss said people won't miss Spider-Man in its Spider-adjacent movie. Turns out, they do.