The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Anthony Mackie Initially “Hated the Idea” of Becoming the New Captain America

As has been revealed in the past, it wasn’t always a clear path on the journey to a new Captain America. Though Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) departed from the role after Avengers: Endgame and handed the shield down to Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson, even then it wasn’t a guarantee Wilson was going to be up the Captain America mantle. In fact, Mackie says when Marvel Studios executives started developing The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it wasn’t initially clear who would be the next Captain America. The actor said in a recent Q&A with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation he initially “hated” the original idea of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

“We never talked about that when the pitch of the show came about it. It was more so about the continuation about what was gonna happen with the shield, if it was gonna be Bucky or if it was gonna be Sam, Because at the end of Endgame, Sam didn’t accept the shield,” Mackie told the organization. “He told Steve, ‘It feels like this is someone else’s, it feels like it’s yours.’ So at no point in time was he excited or looking forward to the idea of becoming Captain America.”

He added, “So it was more so Kevin [Feige] and Nate [Moore] telling me, ‘We’re not sure what’s happening, so the show will be more about the idea or the archetype of Captain America, not you becoming Captain America.’ So I was really confused leaving out of the meeting. But I wasn’t excited either. I hated the idea. I thought it was gonna be an awful idea (laughs).”

Now that he’s Captain America, the character has his own film — Captain America 4 — on the way, spinning out of the events of the Disney+ series.

Watch The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+.

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