Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul star Giancarlo Esposito has clearly been brushing up on his study of The Law Of Attraction of late, telling fans at a comics convention down in Texas today that he’s putting a potential Marvel movie role “out in the universe.” This is per a lively clip filmed by Countdown City Geeks that’s been circulating on TikTok today, in which the Mandalorian actor took the stage at the TJH Superhero Car Show & Comic Con in San Antonio and said that he’s “been in a room and talked” with Marvel Studios about potentially signing on to the franchise, making the leap from Disney’s Star Wars properties to its other big cinematic tentpole.
As to what part Esposito might play after making such a move, he was decidedly coy, only noting that people have floated rumors that he might take on the roles of villains Magneto, “Dr. Freeze” (?), and Doctor Doom…but stating that, if he had his druthers, it’d be the role of the more heroic Professor X he’d prefer to take, with that being the one that’s getting his personal The Secret treatment.
And, look: Under most normal circumstances, slotting Esposito—who massively invigorated his career and more or less immediately typecast himself with his steely turn as Chicken Man Gustavo Fring on Breaking Bad—into various comic book bad guy roles would be little more than the typical fan-casting wankery that makes up so much of internet conversation. This case is slightly different, though, in so much as the man himself is obviously fully on-board: If nothing else, he’s signaling some clear interest to Marvel, and maybe even a little bit of pressure, to consider him for the jobs.
Marvel Studios has, meanwhile, stayed very quiet about its cinematic plans for the X-Men characters especially; Patrick Stewart reprised his role as Charles Xavier in what was, essentially, an extended cameo in Doctor Stranger In The Multiverse Of Madness, but beyond that, Kevin Feige and his crew haven’t even announced when the mutant characters might make a formal entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As to Doctor Doom, the presence of a Fantastic Four movie on the company’s calendar (and the presence of Doom’s fellow FF villain, Namor, in this year’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) certainly suggests that the company will have to make a decision on that pivotal casting a little sooner. But we’ll be honest, and agree a bit with Esposito himself here: It might be more interesting, at this point, to see him devote his prodigious talents to playing a Marvel good guy, instead of repeating himself as one of its most iconic villains.
