According to Latino Review, another villain has been added to CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, this time coming in the form of Batroc The Leaper. MMA fighter Georges St-Pierre will apparently portray the French mercenary who is a master of savate (a French form of kickboxing) and has been in Cap’s rogue gallery for quite a while. Batroc has made the rounds throughout the Marvel universe, fighting the likes of Spider-Man, The Punisher, Deadpool, etc., but it looks like his cinematic debut will be with Cap.
If you’re a non-comic reader, then it’s likely you’ve never heard of Batroc The Leaper, but for those who are familiar, this should be an interesting development. I think some folks may feel like the Cap sequel is getting “top heavy” on the bad guys, but really we only know of three for sure, and that’s Crossbones (Frank Grillo), Arnim Zola (Toby Jones), and now St-Pierre as Batroc, with only two of those likely to be actual physical combatants. The film has already been labeled a “political thriller” that will be told on a large scale, which perfectly suits the source material by Ed Brubaker.
With the recent announcement that Robert Redford may be joining the cast, playing a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Pierce, and the already assembled cast of Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Anthony Mackie as The Falcon, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Sebastian Stan as Bucky/The Winter Soldier, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Frank Grillo as Crossbones, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, and now St-Pierre as Batroc, this is easily sliding into home plate for my most-anticipated of 2014.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, is slated for release on April 4, 2014.