Exclusive: Giancarlo Esposito Eyed For Mephisto In Marvel Cinematic Universe
A trusted and proven inside source for Giant Freakin Robot has shared that Marvel is currently looking at Giancarlo Esposito to play Mephisto.
This article is more than 2 years old
If a studio has need of a truly epic villain, they’d do well to get in touch with Giancarlo Esposito. Fortunately, this is something that should be happening soon. A trusted and proven inside source for Giant Freakin Robot has shared that Marvel is currently looking at Giancarlo Esposito to play Mephisto.
There are a few characters out there that Marvel comics fans expect to be coming soon, and Mephisto is definitely one of them. He’s a major player in the comics with ties to many of the established heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While that leaves a lot of room for speculation about what movie or Marvel series Mephisto will first appear in, we weren’t able to confirm what Marvel’s plans are for the character’s debut. At this point, they’re looking at Giancarlo Esposito to play Mephisto, but it’s early days yet. They haven’t worked out negotiations or gotten the actor to sign on for anything. While this is a great sign that the studio is looking in the right direction, and tells us that Mephisto will be introduced in the coming years, that’s all we know so far.
Will Giancarlo Esposito say yes? If his schedule works out for him, it seems like he should. Mephisto plays a major role in the Marvel comics, and will hopefully be a great player in their cinematic universe. Of course, we can’t say what he’ll decide to do if Marvel officially offers him the role, but it does seem in line with the kinds of parts he’s taken on in the past.
A lot of actors avoid playing villains. If an audience sees them doing something truly terrible on-screen, will that make it harder for audiences to accept them in future roles? This fear holds them back from interesting opportunities and makes casting the perfect villain more difficult. This may be a particular barrier with Mephisto. While Marvel Comics have been careful to avoid too many biblical comparisons between the Marvel character of Mephisto and the Christian Hades, the ties are still there and mentioned sometimes. That may intimidate some actors. Giancarlo Esposito seems like an excellent exception. He’s played a lot of remarkable villains. In 2020, he played Moff Gideon for The Mandalorian, Stan Edgar in The Boys, voiced Lex Luthor in Harley Quinn, and played Gustavo Fring in Better Call Saul. He brought unique life to each of these characters, making them human and understandable as they went about their dark deeds.
One of the things that was so great about Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo Fring in Breaking Bad was the way he could transition between the happy nice guy who ran the fast food place and the villain Walt feared. Bringing that to the role of Mephisto would seem fairly perfect. Mephisto is a master manipulator. He uses humans’ own fears against them to trick them into doing what he wants. He does this with Marvel heroes as well, making him an entertaining character to follow.
There are so many upcoming opportunities to introduce Mephisto in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Many speculated that the character could appear in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. He certainly has ties to Doctor Strange. However, with reshoots hopefully done on that movie, and Giancarlo Esposito just now being looked at for the role, that seems unlikely unless he’s just popping into a post-credits scene. Mephisto has a long history with Spider-Man, so introducing him in a future trilogy with Tom Holland is certainly a possibility. One that seems very likely though is a potential Ghost Rider project.
In the comics, Johnny Blaze makes a deal that brings him back to life and gives him the Ghost Rider title. That deal is revealed to have been made with Mephisto. We’ve heard that Marvel is working on introducing Ghost Rider into the Marvel Cinematic Universe soon. Could they also bring Giancarlo Esposito in as Mephisto when they do? It would certainly be a fitting move for the project when it finally happens.
Hopefully, looking to cast a great actor like Giancarlo Esposito means that they have multiple appearances planned for Mephisto in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s future. It’ll be exciting to see how they work the iconic character into the overall story.
