What Is The Serpent Society? Everything We Know About The Villains In Captain America: New World Order
Though Captain America: New World Order is not premier until May 2024, there are already a lot of speculations about the movie right at the moment, which is completely understandable. The sequel is the first standalone film of Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) as the new symbol of America, after taking Steve Rogers’s shield and mantle in Avengers: Endgame. Especially, some recent leaked footage of the filming crew in Atlanta, Georgia posted on Twitter has built even more hype to the audience.
In this footage, Sam Wilson’s new Captain suit is revealed, along with the appearance of the WWE star Seth Rollins – who’s also a big Marvel enthusiast, which showed us a glimpse of the main villain in the movie. Or should I say, villains, since the Serpent Society contains more than one person? Here’s what we know about this new mysterious group that emerges from the shadow, and what threat they might pose to our superhero in New World Order.
#1. The Serpent Society’s comic origin.
Source: Marvel
In Marvel Comics, the Serpent Society is one of Captain America’s most iconic nemesis, making their debut in Captain America #310 back in 1985. The team initially consists of 3 members: Anaconda, King Cobra, and Rattler, before expanding at an exponential rate. As the name suggests, the Serpent Society’s members all possess snake and reptile-like abilities, and even their titles are named after different types of snakes as well.
For example, their leader, King Cobra, gains his elastic body after getting bitten by a radioactive cobra, allowing him to dislocate his own bones to slip through tight spaces. Another member, Anaconda, has stretchable limbs and can breathe underwater, or Black Mamba, who can hypnotize and manipulate dark force…While possessing unique abilities, the members of the society are not particularly strong and are often dispatched quite easily by Captain America, Spider-Man, and such.
#2. Will Seth Rollins star as a member of the Serpent Society?
Source: WWE, Twitter
In the leaked footage, we can see the wrestler wearing an elaborated dark green suit along with another actress, so it’s safe to guess that they are possibly two of many members of the Serpent Society. The group consists of dozens of members, so it’s hard to predict which roles they will play, but with Rollin’s build, he’ll likely get to portray the team’s leader, King Cobra, who has inhuman flexibility. Another character he can play is Sidewinder, the Serpent Society’s founder, who can teleport from one space to another, which resembles the extraordinary speed of the titular reptile in real life.
#3. The Serpent Society was initially included in the planning of Captain America: Civil War.
Source: Marvel
An interesting fact is that this isn’t the first time the Serpent Society is mentioned in the MCU. Back in 2014, when Marvel’s head Kevin Feige laid out the studio’s film slates for Phase 3 and 4, the third part of the Captain America trilogy was named Captain America: Serpent Society, which even included an official logo, before getting replaced with Civil War later as we know. This detail implied that the team was probably meant to appear in Civil War, but was later removed in the filming process.
#4. What we know so far about Captain America: New World Order.
Source: Marvel
Set to release in May 2024, the latest sequel to the Captain America franchise has been drawing a lot of attention from the media, especially with the recent filming footage. According to Marvel, besides having Sam Wilson taking the mantle of Captain America, the movie will also bring back some familiar faces from The Incredible Hulk, such as Thunderbolt Ross (Harrison Ford who replaces the late William Hurt) and his daughter Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). The new Falcon, portrayed by Joaquin Torres, is spotted at the scene as well.
Do you think the Serpent Society is the main villain in Captain America: New World Order? Share your thoughts and theories below.