The first two episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier appear to have set a template, in that each installment will boast a show-stopping action sequence. In the premiere, it was Sam Wilson engaging in an aerial battle against the bad guys, while last week saw the two title heroes in a scrap atop a pair of moving trucks.
The scenes have been a little more bruising and hard-hitting than we typically see from the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well, which probably has a lot to do with the franchise being able to push the boundaries further on streaming than it would while trying to fit itself into a PG-13 theatrical box. There are still four more weeks of superhero action to go, too, so both the stakes and set pieces are only going to increase in intensity.
In Anthony Mackie’s case, that resulted in him accidentally being punched in the head. This isn’t the first time the actor has suffered a similar experience after previously getting inadvertently clocked by Will Smith at the latter’s birthday party, but returning MCU villain George St-Pierre was full of praise for the 42 year-old’s ability to withstand a blow after revealing in a new interview that an intricate fight scene resulted in a moment of miscommunication.
“Anthony’s amazing. I’m going to tell you, Anthony’s an amazing actor and he’s someone who’s very charismatic and makes me laugh on the set. One day we spent hours on a scene during choreography and there’s a scene that we punched and he was supposed to duck under and I wasn’t able to pull the punch on time. My armed touched his head and I kind of clipped him with my elbow but he’s a hell of a tough guy, let me tell you that. He stood up right away and he was okay and I told him, ‘You’re probably the only human being I ever hit where I got more hurt than you’.”
As someone widely regarded as one of the greatest MMA fighters ever that racked up 26 wins in his 28 professional bouts and won three UFC championships in two different weight classes, nobody in their right mind would look forward to the idea of getting punched by George St-Pierre. Luckily, the Hall of Famer didn’t strike a knockout blow on his co-star, and at least we know The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s leading man is made of some tough stuff.
