Captain America 4 Star Anthony Mackie Reveals Tupac Song He's Using to Prep His Marvel Return

By Cameron Bonomolo

"They don't wanna play this song," Tupac raps in "Hit 'Em Up," which Anthony Mackie is playing on repeat to prepare for Marvel's Captain America 4. After playing Tupac Shakur in 2009 Biggie biopic Notorious, Mackie is using one of the iconic rapper's songs to ready himself for his return as Sam Wilson, the new Captain America of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Speaking to Variety at the 2022 Grammy Awards ahead of his role as host of the CMT Music Awards, Mackie teased Tupac's 1996 diss track "Hit 'Em Up" as the behind-the-scenes soundtrack for his Captain America prep work.

"Music is a part of my life," Mackie said. "Every role that I play, I pick a song to represent that character, and I pick a piece of art to represent that character. So music has always been kind of the defining factor of my life and my career."

Mackie named John Legend's "Ordinary People" as one song he used on a previous film, teasing "Hit 'Em Up" as his background track for Sam Wilson's Captain America.

"I cant say it on camera, but it's a Tupac song," Mackie said, referring to the song's explicit lyrics. "And it starts off, 'First off, dot dot dot dot dot dot ... '"

The untitled Captain America 4 reunites Mackie and co-writer Malcolm Spellman, head writer on Marvel Studios series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The Disney+ series reteamed Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) after the events of Avengers: Endgame and saw Wilson embrace the mantle and shield of Captain America from a retired Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). 

"I think, he's not Steve Rogers and I think that's a good thing," Nate Moore, VP of Production and Development for Marvel Studios, previously told ComicBook about Mackie's Sam Wilson in Cap 4. "Because to me, this new Cap is Rocky. He's going to be the underdog in any situation. He's not a super soldier. He's not a hundred years old. He doesn't have the Avengers. What happens with this guy who announces publicly kind of, without the support, 'I'm new Captain America.' What happens next?"

"I think it's fascinating because he's a guy. He's a guy with wings and a shield, but he is a guy," Moore said of Wilson, who turned down a dose of the human-enhancing super soldier serum. "So, we're going to put him through the wringer and make him earn it, and see what happens when he is outweighed, outclassed, out-everything. What makes somebody Captain America? I'm going to argue it's not being a super soldier. And I think we're going to prove that with Mackie and Sam Wilson."

Marvel has not announced a release date for Captain America 4.

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