In December, Viacom18 backed out of the project due to unknown reasons, and Lalit Kumar was credited as the sole producer.[17] While it was rumoured to be titled as Amar,[18][19] the makers cleared the rumours by announcing the official title as Cobra on 25 December 2019.[20] The team titled the film "Cobra" because it resembles the pivotal character of snake cobra.[21][22] Gnanamuthu, further revealed in an interview to The Times of India, saying "The protagonist's character and cobra has a link", and revealing anything further would give away key plot details. He added, "Also, since the film is made in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, I wanted a title that works in all languages. Hence, we zeroed in on Cobra".[23] Speaking to Ananda Vikatan, Gnanamuthu described Cobra as a multi-genre film and includes various genres such as psychological, science fiction, thriller and action. Vikram's character was revealed to be a mathematician and a shape-shifter, who uses mathematics for criminal activities.[24]