He was the greatest villain that Walter White ever had to deal with on Breaking Bad. He’s the new villain in Ubisoft’s Far Cry 6. You saw him as Moff Gideon on The Mandalorian. Giancarlo Esposito is either a name you know, or one that you’re going to know very soon. In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, he made a small comment that has big weight to it.

I want to work with those guys, I put it out there all the time… What they do is fantastic, I want to do something enduring with them… I think the Marvel world would be, likely, the next step for me, and then I would step back into playing some characters who I think really did change the world with their actions.

Esposito when asked about his dream role

When you’re looking at the various characters that he could portray in the MCU, it’s a pretty big list. Yes, he’s mostly played villains throughout his acting career, but there are some heroes or neutral characters that he could portray as well. Some of them will be more shocking than others, but that’s for you to decide.

#7: Kang The Conqueror

Starting off with the cosmic villain Kang the Conqueror. Esposito already has the chops to play multiple different villains of any style throughout his career. The MCU needs one of it’s premiere baddies after Thanos got his ass finally kicked in Avengers: Endgame. Kang started off as a Fantastic Four villain and morphed over time into the baddie that we know today.

Marvel Studios is definitely working on the Fantastic Four after the big Fox acquisition, so making Kang the villain that they have to tussle with is definitely an option. It also would be a good way to set up other possible characters entering the MCU like Apocalypse, Black Bolt, Iron Lad, and Immortus. Esposito wouldn’t be unrecognizable as the time-traveler, but his dark and deep delivery would be perfect for the character.

#6: Mephisto

Thanos and His Buddy Mephisto

The Marvel Comics version of the Devil himself. Mephisto is an all-powerful, immortal, leader of an army of demons. In addition to all those things, he controls the souls of the down and out. He gains power from the souls that he takes, and he’s just generally, a bad dude. Thanos was a formidable foe for the first wave of Marvel heroes on film. Mephisto would be a whole different universe of pain for those heroes.

Mephisto could show himself as just simply a demigod or observer of the events of the Marvel universe, before turning into the villain that our heroes need to defeat. Giancarlo Esposito has made his money playing villains (something I’m going to say a couple more times now), but this one might take the cake for overall world-shaping baddies.

#5: Doc Ock

The Spider-Man villain was expertly played by Alfred Molina already in Spider-Man 2. Otto Octavius would be the first time on this list that the race of a character would be changed, but Esposito is such a dynamic actor that it wouldn’t matter. Plus, who cares what the race of the character is, as long as they’re great in the performance.

Spider-Man could use another great villain in the Marvel Universe as well. This casting hinges on whether Sony allows Marvel Studios the deal with Spider-Man also. If they let that partnership continue, you could see the best version of Doc Ock ever.

#4: Doctor Doom

Doctor Doom is arguably the greatest super-villain in the history of comics. The Fantastic Four wouldn’t be the same without him, the Marvel Universe wouldn’t be the same without him. This role would require the most out of Esposito, because his face would be hidden behind Doom’s mask most of the time. Like Pedro Pascal in The Mandalorian, though, a great performance can come out hidden behind a mask.

Doom would be perfect because he could either be a villain for the upcoming Fantastic Four movie that Marvel is surely developing, or he could be an overall baddie for when The Avengers come back together, or both! Doom hasn’t been done super well in either of his appearances so far, so an actor like Esposito would be just what the doctor ordered for him.

#3: Magneto

Now we get to hero/villain crossover time. Like with the Fantastic Four, Disney and Marvel are definitely hard at work figuring out how the X-Men figure into their upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe plans. Magneto is the ultimate enemy of the X-Men. Like Loki, he’s a great villain because of his motivation, and how he can put aside those differences for the greater good. Magneto at certain points in the comics was a great hero for the X-Men.

Where he’s a great hero, he’s an even better villain though. All we have for Magneto are the fantastic performances by Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen. Those performances are both lofty and would require someone with great acting chops to get to that level. Esposito has proven that he can play villains that have layers and great motivation. Make it happen Marvel.

#2: Professor Xavier

Now for one of the greatest heroes we’ve seen in comic books. This, like Magneto, has two great performances to live up to. James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart embodied the character of Charles Xavier like no one else has. Casting Esposito as the founder of the X-Men would be a big move for the MCU though. He’s the type of actor that can carry any material given and do it well. After all that wrestling has taught me, the best villains always become the best heroes. Giancarlo Esposito is no different for this.

Also with any casting like this. You can easily cast Bryan Cranston as Magneto or vice-versa and get the Breaking Bad reunion that everyone on planet Earth wants. That would be the ultimate in awesome.

#1: Norman Osborn

Now for the best use of Giancarlo Esposito in the MCU. Norman Osborn is the best Spider-Man villain and one of the best in the overall Marvel Comics universe. Willem Dafoe played him perfectly in the first Spider-Man film. For me, the use of Osborn would be best if he was like his Spider-Man PS4 video game counterpart. He’s not an outward villain for Spider-Man or his friends, but there’s something bubbling underneath the surface. Hopefully we get more about it in Spider-Man: Miles Morales on the PS5.

This casting would signify a change to the character, and I mean, come on, you can imagine Esposito as Norman Osborn right now. He’s sly, but intense. The wise-cracking smooth talk of a villain like Moff Gideon hides his true power under the surface, which is just like Norman Osborn could be. Other than the Breaking Bad reunion, this would be the perfect use for Giancarlo Esposito’s talents.

What do you think of the list? Who would you want to see Giancarlo Esposito play in the MCU? Did we miss a character? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook.