Marvel Studios have largely been right on the money when it comes to casting their ever-expanding roster of superheroes, with the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo perfectly embodying their characters. However, the argument could be made that the studio’s persistence in getting Chris Evans to sign on as Captain America was their wisest decision, with the actor growing into the role over the course of a decade and acting as the beating heart of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The final moments of Avengers: Endgame brought a definitive conclusion to Cap’s arc in the MCU, as he finally got to share a dance with Peggy Carter, but not before the time-traveling version of Steve Rogers reappeared in 2023 as an old man to pass on the mantle of Captain America to his close friend Sam Wilson.
It marked one of the most poignant scenes in the entire movie, and it turns out that Evans and Anthony Mackie are as close in real life as Steve and Sam are on the big screen. In a recent interview to promote Rian Johnson’s upcoming mystery Knives Out, Evans revealed that he was so excited to talk about the scene with his co-star that he didn’t even realize Mackie had no clue about the passing of the torch, and spoiled the entire thing for him.
“While we were filming in Atlanta, I had a few people over to watch football or something, and Mackie was the first one to show up. I didn’t know that he didn’t know what was going to happen! I say, ‘Hey man, isn’t that scene fantastic?’ and he said, ‘What scene?’. And I said, ‘The scene where I give you the shield!’. And he said, ‘You’re giving me the shield?’… I got the scene and gave it to him, and I got to watch him read the scene for the first time where he’s getting the shield… But it was so nice to share it with him. He was so happy and deserving. It was a nice way to have – just between us – the transition of characters.”
While Evans was completely unaware that he was spoiling Anthony Mackie’s biggest and most important scene in Avengers: Endgame before the actor even had a chance to read the script, it’s somewhat fitting that this was the way it went down. Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers will always be closely linked within the narrative history of the MCU, so there’s little doubt that the former would have been bothered that it was Captain America himself that was the first person to tell him about the new journey Falcon was about to begin.