Anthony Mackie is the new Captain America, but Sam Wilson was not the actor’s first choice of roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The actor, 44 admitted to Inverse recently that he wanted to play the Black Panther when he began talks with Marvel Studios in the early 2010s, ahead of his first MCU appearance as Sam Wilson / Falcon in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
“I had been contacting Marvel a lot about Black Panther,” he told the outlet. “I had written them letters. I was trying to find a way to make them make Black Panther. And I wanted to be Black Panther because growing up I f–ing loved Black Panther.”
When Mackie finally set up a meeting with his eventual directors Joe and Anthony Russo, he said the pair offered him a role — though they declined to say what part he might play until weeks later.
“I’ll never forget, Joe Russo said, ‘Listen, so we’re doing this movie. We want you to be in it. We can’t say what character you’re playing or who else is going to be in it. Would you do it?’ ” Mackie recalled of the meeting. “And that was it. I was like, ‘You know what, I like y’all dudes. I’ll do it. I’ll go on this ride with you.’ ”
Of course, Black Panther was eventually portrayed by the late Chadwick Boseman, first in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, also directed by the Russo brothers. Mackie was instead cast as Sam Wilson, a former military officer who grows into one of Steve Rogers’ (Chris Evans) top allies with the use of a specialized wing suit that lets him fly.
“What other major comic book figure has enough of a presence to have his own movie?” Mackie recalled of how he reacted to his offer to play the Falcon. “So when they hit me up and they were like, ‘Yo, so it’s Sam Wilson,’ I’m like, ‘Really?’ ”
Mackie’s gamble on playing Sam Wilson has paid off. After appearing in six Marvel films in the 2010s, his character received a leading role in the 2021 Disney+ miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, leading to Sam establishing himself as the cinematic universe’s next Captain America.
Now tasked with leading the franchise into the future with the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World, Mackie admitted to the outlet that he feels “a huge amount of pressure” on the project.
“You throw my dumb a– in the water, and you’re like, ‘Swim.’ I’m like, ‘S—,’ ” he told Inverse. “But at the same time, it’s all in the state of mind. I’ve been given a great cast. I’ve been given a great group of people who I’ve worked with before.”
Mackie will costar with Harrison Ford, who takes on the late William Hurt’s role as Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, in the upcoming movie. The film will feature an ensemble cast that includes Shira Haas, Tim Blake Nelson and Carl Lumbly, according to Deadline.
Captain America: Brave New World is expected to arrive in theaters July 26, 2024. Disney recently shifted the film’s release date back from May 3, 2024.
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