Anthony Mackie is known for playing Captain America’s closest friend (one born in the latter have of the 20th century) Sam Wilson, a.k.a. Falcon in the MCU, but apparently the actor had his eyes on another role long before he joined up.
Mackie first appeared in the MCU in Captain America: The Winter Soldier back in 2014. We meet him as Cap is running around National Mall in Washington, with Steve almost taunting Sam as he shouts “On your left” as he breezes by, overtaking him again and again. The two work together from there on out, often seen as a package deal at times. Though this has been a great role for Mackie, it was originally the role of Black Panther that Mackie had his heart set on.
Before he entered the MCU Mackie’s star was already on the rise, having acted in some huge films such as The Adjustment Bureau, She Hate Me, and the award-winning film, The Hurt Locker. Feeling confident in his abilities the actor started messaging Marvel, specifically about the character of Black Panther, telling Inverse in an interview,
“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 [expletive] loved Black Panther.”
He was eventually contacted to have a classic Hollywood meeting, by a poolside, where he was told cryptically given a choice,
“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.’”
It wasn’t until a few weeks after that meeting that he was told, of course, he didn’t get the role of Black Panther, which instead went to Chadwick Boseman and now rests on the shoulders of Letitia Wright, but he would be playing Falcon, a trusted ally of Captain America. From here he has appeared in multiple MCU films, as well as his own spin-off series alongside Sebastian Stan as Bucky where it was revealed that he will be taking on the enormous responsibility of being the next Captain America.
On taking over the role and being the lead in the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World, he says,
“There’s a huge amount of pressure. You throw my dumb ass in the water, and you’re like, ‘Swim.’ I’m like, ‘Sh*t.’ 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.”
He will appear in red, white, and blue in Captain America: Brave New World currently set to hit theatres July 26, 2024.