Spider-Man: Far From Home is now days away from release, and will both act as the finale (no kidding this time) to the 23 film Infinity Saga as well as point towards the future of the MCU. We can’t wait, but while leaked spoilers indicate that we’re in for some surprising twists, it seems there’s one thing we won’t be getting: the reveal of Anthony Mackie’s Captain America. Marvel Studios heads have revealed he was considered for inclusion at the ending of Far From Home, but they decided against it.
Steve Rogers’ decision to pass the mantle to Falcon rather than Bucky Barnes in the closing moments of Avengers: Endgame has proved divisive, but perhaps any fears could have been laid to rest if we’d have gotten to see Mackie in full Captain America gear. Alas, it was not to be, and here’s Creative Executive Eric Carroll and Kevin Feige on why.
Carroll said:
“We briefly talked about bringing in Falcon as Captain America at the end, like maybe once Peter’s arced, and he’s sort of like leading the team, like maybe he calls in a favor. But we also thought it was really important to the arc of this movie that there not be other Avengers available to Nick Fury or Peter, so he’d have to step up and do it himself. Ultimately, Spider-Man: Far From Home is Spider-Man’s journey, whether any other heroes appear in it or not.”
Feige continued:
“It’s all about Peter stepping up and Peter getting out of the shadow, not just of Tony but of the Avengers in general. Because by the way, he’s Spider-Man. He doesn’t need to be in the shadow of the Avengers. So other than Maria, and Nick, and Happy, and the emotional presence of Tony… You hear, he asks about Thor. He asks about Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel.”
Much as I would have liked to get a look at Mackie’s Captain America, keeping the focus on Spider-Man is probably the right call. In any event, we’ve got Falcon and Winter Soldier coming soon to Disney Plus, which promises to explore the consequences of Steve Rogers’ choice and how Falcon grapples with stepping into some pretty sizeable boots. Plus, even though Bucky seemed cool with it in Endgame, you have to imagine there’s some bitterness in Rogers choosing Falcon over his oldest friend.
