Out promoting his new Peacock series “Twisted Metal,” actor Anthony Mackie talked with Inverse about his work with Marvel Studios over the years and his taking on the mantle of “Captain America: Brave New World” which he’s recently been shooting.
He revealed that years before he was hired, he wrote Marvel Studios multiple letters asking to play Black Panther as he figured the character was the only prominent Black superhero Marvel might develop a movie for. He says:
“I had been contacting Marvel a lot about Black Panther. 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.”
That led to a meeting with longtime Marvel producer Nate Moore and directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who were developing “Captain America: The Winter Solider” at the time. No one told Mackie what part they were meeting him for:
“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?’ 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.'”
When the offer came through, Mackie was shocked it was for the Falcon instead of Black Panther:
“What other major comic book figure has enough of a presence to have his own movie? So when they hit me up, and they were like: ‘Yo, so it’s Sam Wilson,’ I’m like, ‘Really?'”
Mackie has since gone on to play Falcon across five films and a TV series to date, with the sixth film on the way – this time setting him up as the new Captain America:
“There’s a huge amount of pressure. You throw my dumbass in the water, and you’re like, ‘Swim.’ I’m like, ‘S—.’ 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.”
Talking about how Sam Wilson’s version of Captain America compares to Steve Rogers, he says his version is a little less quick to fight:
“It’s more so about his ability to connect and counsel. He’s not as rash to bear arms as Steve Rogers was. Having a super serum makes you impossible to beat, so your answer to everything is to fight it out. Whereas Sam Wilson can actually die pretty easily.
He realized that his ability is not to change the world with force; it’s about giving people the wherewithal and the recognition that they deserve so that they can make a change. I can go around and beat up people all day; it won’t matter. Those people are going to come right back and do the same s—.”
He confirms the new film “picks up pretty much right after” the events of “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” TV series with Sam “back in the fold of, How do I fit into this superhero world?”.
Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Shira Haas, Liv Tyler, Xosha Roquemore, and Seth Rollins co-star in “Captain America: Brave New World” which is set for release on July 26th 2024.
Source: Inverse
