The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Anthony Mackie: Marvel Series Is on Hold, Not Cancelled Due to Coronavirus

Captain America and Avengers star Anthony Mackie, who reprises his role as Sam Wilson in The [...]

By Cameron Bonomolo

Captain America and Avengers star Anthony Mackie, who reprises his role as Sam Wilson in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, says the Marvel Studios produced Disney+ series is "not cancelled" after production was shut down in March over coronavirus concerns. Taking place after the events of Avengers: Endgame — where a retired Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) passed the mantle and shield of Captain America to right-hand man Sam — The Falcon and the Winter Soldier partners the high-flying superhero with cybernetically-enhanced soldier Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) in a global adventure pitting them against a plot put into motion by the returned Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl).

"I'm happy to say we are not cancelled, we are on hold," Mackie said during a virtual appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. "So we're going back, hopefully sometime soon, to finish it up."

Mackie added the Kari Skogland-directed series has "very little stuff to do" before being completed and the star, who joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, is "very happy" with early footage.

"We have a little bit more to go back and do, but everybody rest assured, it will come out. We are not cancelled," Mackie said. "Because you know, in this business, 'Take a little break, we'll come back to it,' that means they're never coming back to it [laughs]. I was like, 'Man, I was Captain America for all of two weeks, this sucks! How did I get fired on my day off?'"

Filming commenced in late 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia, before a planned two-week shoot in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, was disrupted by earthquakes in the region. After relocating to Prague, Czech Republic, cast and crew returned to Atlanta days into a planned three-week shoot that was halted amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this month, a report claimed Falcon and other Marvel series could receive the green light to resume filming in July. In late April, Stan told The Hollywood Reporter there were just "two or three weeks" left of filming on the series before production was paused.

"We still have some stuff to do," Stan said, adding the series from producer Kevin Feige feels like both a movie and a television show.

"What I loved about it was that, tonally, it was very much in the same world that Captain America: The Winter Soldier was, which was one of my favorite experiences that I've ever had, period. So, in a sense, it was grounded and very much in the world as we know it," Stan said of the first Captain America sequel directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. In that same spirit, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is "also really jam-packed with a lot of massive, massive action scenes mixed with deep focus on character. That's what's really exciting about this."

Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is currently scheduled for an August premiere exclusively on the Disney+ streaming service. Sign up for Disney+.

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