During the buildup to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie admitted that the Marvel Cinematic Universe was getting a new Captain America, but it might not be Sam Wilson. And technically, he was correct after Wyatt Russell’s John Walker assumed the mantle for the first few episodes before being disavowed by the government, but it would be safe to say that everyone was expecting Sam to suit up in his star-spangled finest by the time the finale drew to a close.
That’s exactly what happened, too, and it was swiftly followed by the news that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s lead writer and executive producer Malcolm Spellman was developing a standalone Captain America film for Mackie to take center stage in. While he might be the franchise’s third Cap after Steve Rogers and the aforementioned Walker, he’ll be looking to hold onto the title for a long time to come.
Sam’s coronation had been in the works for two years since he was first handed the shield in Avengers: Endgame, and in a new interview, Mackie revealed his excitement at finally getting to call himself the MCU’s Captain America.
“Well, you know it’s interesting, it’s humbling really. It didn’t hit me until the show came to a conclusion Friday and I watched it with my boys. And it’s really, there are no words to explain it. I remember it was 2008 when I first moved to Brooklyn, and I was walking down the street and I saw this little kid. And he had taken like a cereal box and like cut eyes, and put the cereal box on his head like spray-painted it blue and put an A on it. And I was like, ‘Yo, what you doing man?’, and he was like, ‘I’m fighting bad guys! I’m Captain America!’. And to see that little kid and think about almost thirteen years later where I am now, you know in the universe, it’s really humbling and exciting at the same time. Because there is that significance to little kids around the world.”
The Outside the Wire star has always taken his inevitable anointing as Captain America in his stride, but even he can’t hide his glee now that he’s got the shield, the costume and a solo movie on the way. It’s a big deal for both the actor and the franchise as a whole to continue telling stories with the character following the departure of Chris Evans, who embodied the role for close to a decade, but Mackie is more than capable of putting his own stamp on the iconic Avenger.
