Anthony Mackie Reveals His Reaction to Learning He's the New Captain America

The entire landscape of the Marvel Cinematic Universe received a dramatic change in Avengers: Endgame, as some of the founding heroes in the franchise moved on while others went in shocking new directions. And though Steve Rogers might be done slinging the shield, the world still needs Captain America. And that's where Anthony Mackie's Falcon steps in.

Even though there's precedent for Sam Wilson to become Captain America in the pages of Marvel Comics, it was still a surprise to Mackie when he found out. Mackie says he was told by the original Cap himself, and it was a very big deal for him.

"[It was] like a day or two before we shot it," Mackie said during an interview with Yahoo! "We were watching a football game over at [Chris Evans'] place and he pulled out the script and showed it to me. It was crazy, I was blown away. I was blown away."

Mackie was joined by his The Falcon and The Winter Soldier co-star Sebastian Stan, who was asked if he thought the mantle could have been placed on Bucky — but the actor shot that idea down pretty quickly.

"I don't know about that," Stan responded. "Not really though, if you think about it. It makes no sense for him to...why would you give it to the guy that's been trying to have a whole new history outside of the thing he's been trapped by. I remember I found out [about Falcon getting the shield] the day we were shooting. I was like 'Oh wow, this is the deal.' But it makes sense. He's [Sam Wilson] has been his [Captain America's] right-hand for a long time at this point."

Fans will get to see the immediate fallout of this decision next year with the premiere of the Disney+ series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, which will see the two titular heroes team up to take down the returning Baron Zemo, who first manipulated Bucky back in Captain America: Civil War.

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige teased what fans can expect when the new superhero shows start making their way to the new streaming service.

"WandaVision will be unlike anything we've done before, and I'm excited to talk to people more about it, eventually," Feige explained to CNN. "And you see Daniel Bruhl coming back to Zemo and having more time to spend with these beloved characters in Falcon and Winter Soldier. Loki returning -- it's an embarrassment of riches, all of it extremely thought out by the team Marvel Studios, to do it in ways that I hope will satisfy fans who are anticipating it, but in a way they are absolutely not expecting it."

Avengers: Endgame debuts on Digital HD on July 30th, followed by the Blu-ray and DVD release on August 13th.