Giancarlo Esposito is an actor who has carved out a reputation as a reliably magnificent performer over the last several years. He is most known as someone who has been a great part of Breaking Bad, The Boys, and The Mandalorian. He never fails to embody the great characters he portrays, which means that TV and movie fans are always happy when Esposito shows up.

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Now, the actor has Marvel fans excited as he has announced that he will be appearing in the MCU. Not much is known about who Giancarlo Esposito will be playing, only that he will be teased in an upcoming project before being involved in a series. With so much coming down the pipeline from Marvel, there are lots of potential characters the actor could play.

1 Professor X

The Character Fans Expected To See Before The Announcement

Long before the announcement of Giancarlo Esposito being cast in the MCU, many fans had put forward the idea of the actor becoming the next Professor X. A new version of The X-Men is coming in the future, and Esposito is within the right age range to play the leader of the mutant team. Plus, he has a great screen presence that is necessary when commanding a school of super-powered individuals.

While Esposito would crush it as Professor X, it does not look like that is who he will be playing. The actor has hinted that the person he is playing is someone fans won't expect, and it is doubtful that Marvel will give Professor X a TV series before debuting the X-Men. Still, it would be a great choice, though, if the actor was playing Charles Xavier.

2 Annihilus

An Old Fantastic Four Enemy

With The X-Men being one of the big projects that fans do not know much about, it is easy to forget that The Fantastic Four is also coming to the MCU soon. Much of the cast of this movie has already been announced, and it seems that Galactus is going to be one of the main threats to this new iteration of the team. However, other villains may be teased.

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Annihilus is a creature from the negative zone, and The Fantastic Four normally have to fight off an invasion from this villain and his minions in the comics. Having Giancarlo Esposito play Annihilus would make sense as someone who would be teased in the future. However, the actor is so expressive that it would be silly to have him portray a character that is hidden under a lot of prosthetics or CGI.

3 Magneto

A Complicated Character That Needs A Magnetic Performance

Without a doubt, Magneto is one of the most complex characters in all comics. He wants to see his fellow mutants thrive and will stop at nothing to prevent the persecution of his kind, even if that means coming into conflict with his old friend and ally, Professor X. Such a layered character needs a fantastic actor to bring him to life, and that is exactly who Giancarlo Esposito is.

Esposito normally plays complicated characters, those who are often depicted as the villains in their respective stories, and he does so brilliantly. As such, he is a great candidate for portraying the next Magneto on screen. Also, a Disney+ series exploring the rise of Magneto would be fascinating. The only thing that goes against this casting theory is that Magneto is a character that has been used a lot in the past X-Men movies. Therefore, the MCU might want to go in a new direction for future X-Men projects.

4 Bastion

An X-Men Villain That Had A Big And Recent Spotlight

The X-Men have a long list of villains in the comics, so some of these will likely be popping up in the MCU as fans get closer to the team's reintroduction. The villain of the new animated series, X-Men 97, was the character Bastion, a mutant/Sentinel hybrid who wanted to see mutants wiped out and his cyborg allies rise. X-Men 97 was a big hit for Marvel, and one of the best aspects was seeing Bastion in action.

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With Giancarlo Esposito being so well-versed at bringing compelling villains to life on the screen, it makes sense that he would be cast to play someone like Bastion. This is especially true if Marvel is looking to move away from Magneto for a bit. The only thing that makes Bastion a poor candidate is that it is unlikely that he will become the focus of a live-action Disney+ series so soon after X-Men 97.

5 Kang

Recasting In A Big Way

One thing that was made clear when the MCU started to move into Phase 4 was the fact that the franchise would begin to explore the multiverse and that the evil time-traveler Kang would be set up as the next Thanos-level threat. The character appeared in both Loki and Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania, and the title for the fifth Avengers movie was revealed to be Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

Sadly, complications with the actor who originally played Kang meant that the MCU started to shift away from the villain, and Avengers 5 now has no subtitle. As such, many fans assume that Kang will not be seen again. However, there are still some lingering plot threads connected to Kang that need to be addressed, so recasting the villain is not out of the question. Casting someone as popular as Giancarlo Esposito as Kang would get the fan conversation moving in a more positive direction, as the actor is talented enough for the role.

6 Mister Sinister

A Great X-Men Villain Yet To Be Seen On Screen

With Magneto getting such a big spotlight in the original X-Men movie franchise, it often meant that other great characters did not get a chance to shine. One of those characters is the villain, Mister Sinister, who is yet to be portrayed in live-action. If the MCU wants to pivot away from Magneto, then Mister Sinister would be the next great foil for a new team of X-Men.

Minster Sinister is a villain obsessed with evolution and is hell-bent on experimenting to create the most powerful mutant. His actions often include kidnapping, manipulating people from the shadows, or demonstrating his superior intellect. Not only have fans already seen Giancarlo Esposito depict sinister characters, like Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, but he also has the temperament to be seen manipulating things from behind the scenes. As a result, the actor would be perfect for filling the shoes of Mister Sinister.

7 Doctor Doom

The Biggest Threat In Marvel Comics

Doctor Doom is an iconic part of the Marvel Comics universe, but he has been done a disservice in all his live-action appearances so far. As the archnemesis to The Fantastic Four, Doom has shown up in all three previous Fantastic Four movies, but every time the writers have ignored his role as a dictator and master manipulator. Instead, he is normally depicted as a generic, cackling villain.

Doctor Doom is an incredibly powerful villain due to his political position and scientific mind. The fact that he has access to dark magic is just a side note of how intimidating this character can be. As a result, Doctor Doom will likely be portrayed as a threat to the entire MCU when he is finally introduced. If any actor has shown that they can pull off the quiet menace needed to play someone like Doctor Doom, it is Giancarlo Esposito. The actor often steals any scene he is in, and he can be a big presence without even saying a word. He can also deliver some threatening dialogue when needed. Therefore, it would be great to see Esposito terrify MCU fans as the new Doctor Doom.

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