The end of Avengers: Endgame sees Steve Rogers AKA Captain America go back in (alternate) time to return the Infinity Stones. When he comes back to the prime timeline, he’s an old man wearing a wedding ring (we later learn that he got married to the woman of his dreams, Peggy Carter and settled down in life). But what happens next came as a big surprise. Steve Rogers passes his shield and the proverbial torch to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), dubbing him the new Captain America.
During a panel at Celebrity Fan Fest, Anthony Mackie was asked how he learned that he would be becoming the new Captain America going forward. The actor said:
“We were shooting in Atlanta and Chris Evans had a bunch of us over to his house to watch a football game, because we all hate the Patriots and he loves the Patriots. He and I go downstairs and he’s showing me the house and he’s like, ‘So are you excited?’ I’m like, ‘I mean yeah, it’s gonna be a football game. I love football, I watch football every week, but I didn’t know you were this into it.’
And he’s like, ‘No, about the script. You haven’t read the scene?’ I was like, ‘No.’ So he jumps up, runs out of the room and back in with the script and hits me with the script. He’s like ‘Page 85! Read it! Read it!’ And he sits there like a kid watching [me read it].”
Mackie added that he usually learns about major plot points from Kevin Feige and the producers. So it was a cool moment that he got to learn this huge piece of information from one of his “dear friends, instead of somebody else.”
Anthony Mackie also went on to say that Chris Evans did a fantastic job as Captain America. However, he will not just be Chris Evans of a different ethnicity, but put his own spin on the popular character.
“I love Chris. Chris is an amazing Cap. And I feel like, what he’s been able to do with that character, very few people have been able to do in any cinematic universe or span of films. Because he’s played Cap for A LOT of movies. To take that over, to be a part of that, the legacy of that, is a huge challenge. It’s something where a lot of people are going to expect me to be Chris Evans in the same suit, but a black dude. And that’s definitely not gonna happen.”
This quote by Mackie makes me excited for the future of the MCU. Sam Wilson was born and raised in a different era than Steve Rogers. They went through completely different sets of trials and tribulations. And while they’re both patriotic and have similar moral compasses, they’re completely different individuals. So it’s going to be interesting to see the new dimensions Anthony Mackie brings to this character.
