Anthony Mackie has had an incredible decade-long journey in the MCU thus far as Sam Wilson, a key Avengers hero who went from being the wingman to Chris Evans’ Captain America as Falcon before being passed the shield by the Marvel heavyweight. Ahead of the actor set to lead his first MCU movie with the upcoming movie Captain America: Brave New World, Mackie revealed this all started because he had high hopes to play another comic book character: Black Panther.
Mackie worked with numerous Marvel actors on his road to his most iconic role, such as working alongside Jeremy Renner in 2008’s The Hurt Locker, and with Hugh Jackman in 2011’s Real Steel, both after graduating at the prestigious Juilliard. Here’s what the actor shared about his history with Marvel:
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 fucking loved Black Panther.
There you have it. While speaking to Inverse recently, Mackie shared that he had his heart set on Black Panther years before the movie was even in production and let Marvel know it. His tenacity led to a meeting with Marvel producer Nate Moore and the Russo Brothers. As Mackie continued to recall:
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.’ … 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?’
Funny enough, Mackie came on the scene one Captain America movie too early to play Black Panther, as Chadwick Boseman’s big-screen version of the hero would be introduced in Captain America: Civil War in 2016. Mackie was, of course, absolutely right that Marvel needed to make Black Panther given the 2018 film became the studio’s first Best Picture nominee, among so many other decorations the movie received.
Anthony Mackie may not be Black Panther in the MCU, but he’s had an incredible career in the universe so far. He’s been in six Marvel movies, including almost every Avengers movie, and he starred the 2021 Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He’s set to continue his tenure in upcoming Marvel movies too, starting with Captain America: Brave New World, coming out on July 26, 2024.
Brave New World’s cast includes Danny Ramirez, Tim Blake Nelson and the Harrison Ford, among other actors. Nate Moore has teased Mackie’s Cap as a more of a “humane” version of the hero with different experiences and values to draw upon than Chris Evans’ hero from the ‘40s. We can’t wait to see Mackie formally lead his first Marvel movie, which is apparently going to be more “grounded” than most of its kind too, when it hits theaters next summer.
