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Who is Marvel's The Serpent Society? The history of these snake-themed foes of Captain America in Brave New World
Marvel's Serpent Society is ready to bear their fangs.
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If there is one animal that nearly everyone is afraid of, it's snakes. You just can’t trust them, which is why Marvel has a whole supervillain group based on the slithering creatures. The Serpent Society is making its MCU debut soon in Captain America: Brave New World, but how are they different from any other supervillain group with a gimmick?
Whether you’re hearing about the Serpent Society for the first time or you just need a refresher before seeing them on the big screen, here is everything you need about these iconic Marvel villains.
Who is the Serpent Society in Marvel Comics?
The most famous iteration of the Serpent Society made its first appearance back in 1985 in Captain America comics. Its members included Anaconda, Black Mamba, and Death Adder, with the villainous Sidewinder as their leader. Their first mission was to retrieve the Serpent Crown (notice a theme here?) from the bottom of the sea. When things went sideways, Sidewinder used his cloak to teleport away to safety, abandoning his comrades to their deaths.
Except they didn’t die. They returned and confronted Sidewinder. However, he had a surprise for them. He had used the money from the Serpent Crown job to set up the beginnings of the Serpent Society and offered Black Mamba, Anaconda, and Black Adder roles as charter members of the Society along with Asp, Diamondback, Cottonmouth, the Cobra, Bushmaster, Rattler, and Princess Python.
Throughout most of their history, the Serpent Society doesn't function like a typical evil organization, however. Rather than engage in their own plans for world domination, they usually acted as a broker for their members as they took on jobs with other groups like HYDRA, A.I.M., and Kingpin. In return for a cut, the Serpent Society ensured members had higher pay, safe lodging, freedom from incarceration, and access to advanced technology.
If that sounds familiar, it's because the Serpent Society was essentially a supervillain labor union. Hopefully they secured dental plans for their members, considering how many of them have functional fangs.
For most of their history, Sidewinder has been the leader of the Serpent Society, though he has been displaced on occasion by the Viper and once ceded the role to Cobra for a time. However, Sidewinder remains the most well-known leader of the Serpent Society.
Who has been a member of the Serpent Society?
Like any group in comic books, the Serpent Society has had several iterations over the years. While the original line-up remains the most famous and iconic, there have been more members over the years.
Members of the Serpent Society have included:
- Sidewinder
- Anaconda
- Asp
- Black Mamba
- Bushmaster
- Cobra
- Cottonmouth
- Death Adder
- Diamondback
- Princess Python
- Rattler
- Viper
- Black Racer
- Boomslang
- Coachwhip
- Copperhead
- Fer-de-Lance
- Puff Adder
- Rock Python
- Slither
- Constrictor
- Death Adder
Who is in the MCU’s Serpent Society?
The Serpent Society will make their MCU debut in 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World with Giancarlo Esposito playing their leader, Sidewinder. However, this isn’t the first time characters from the Serpent Society have appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – several members showed up in Netflix’s Luke Cage series. These include Cottonmouth and Bushmaster.
It isn’t clear if these characters will show up in Captain America: Brave New World, though, as they were far different from their comic book counterparts. Cottonmouth is unlikely to reappear in the new Captain America film, considering he was originally portrayed by Mahershala Ali, who has been cast as Blade in the MCU’s consistently delayed reboot of the character.
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