Nick Gerasi? That's what it sounds like.

Sounds to me as if he'll be kind of a Luca Brasi clone, a guy who has a reputation of being brutal and fearsome, but probably with some more smarts than Luca.

From the interview, my guess is that he will be written as having been Tessio's main muscle, then when Tessio got whacked, probably Michael brings him into the inner Corleone circle. At this time, Al Neri is becoming more a capo rather than just a street enforcer, plus after Rocco gets it while doing the hit on Hyman Roth, the Corleones need a new main muscle man - this is where Gerasi could fit in.

Because of sheer physical intimidation, Gerasi would gain some "cred" in the Corleone family -- he might develop into a "worthy adversary" for Michael after the events of GF II.

But seriously, the only "worthy adversary" for Michael in the family is Tom Hagen. The most pressing question for the period after GF II and before GF III, was how was the relationship between Michael and Tom resolved?

All we know for sure is that Tom dies sometime before 1978, since B.J. Harrison is fairly well established in the lawyer role, I would guess Tom's death was not real recent - probably took place in the early 1970s.

However Tom's death is handled in any GF-based novel or sequel, how his relationship with Michael played out is still a crucial question that needs to be addressed.