Marvel Star Anthony Mackie Clarifies His Diversity Comments About Marvel Studios

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier star Anthony Mackie has clarified his comments about diversity at Marvel Studios. Those initial words came in a conversation with Daveed Diggs during Variety’s Actors on Actors series. During that video, the Falcon actor wanted to know why there weren’t more crew members of color in all kinds of different positions. He pointed toward the makeup of the cast and crew on Black Panther as an outlier. Multiple people in the entertainment industry spoke up in defense of Mackie after he said that, but some wondered if he was doing too much with his slight criticism. Well, in a new interview with Fatherly, the bearer of Captain America’s shield says that he has no beef, but knows that Marvel can do even better if they work at it.

Mackie began, “I’ll say this: I don’t think what’s happening is a racism problem. I think it’s an unawareness problem. With Marvel, I really think with most companies, they feel like they’re doing what they should be doing. In no way, shape, or form, is it enough.”

“My big thing is, put your money where your mouth is. You can’t cast a Black dude as one of your main superheroes and not expect him to have that conversation. It’s just in my DNA to have that conversation,” he continued. “It’s a huge opportunity for me to be part of the Marvel universe so it’s my job to make sure the Marvel universe is as good as it can be.”

Check out his previous comments on the matter down below:

“When The Falcon and The Winter Soldier comes out, I’m the lead. When Snowpiercer comes out, you’re the lead. We have the power and the ability to ask those questions,” Mackie wondered. “It really bothered me that I’ve done seven Marvel movies where every producer, every director, every stunt person, every costume designer, every PA, every single person has been white.”

“But then when you do Black Panther, you have a Black director, Black producer, you have a Black costume designer, you have a Black stunt choreographer,” the actor adds. “And I’m like, that’s more racist than anything else. Because if you only can hire the Black people for the Black movie, are you saying they’re not good enough when you have a mostly white cast?… Hire the best person for the job. Even if it means we’re going to get the best two women, we’re going to get the best two men.”

Do you agree with Mackie here? Let us know down in the comments!