Anthony Mackie Is A Different Kind Of Hero In Captain America 4
It looks like when Anthony Mackie headlines Captain America 4 as the titular hero, he will be a very different version of the character.
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With Marvel entering an entirely new phase of productions, moving on from the original Avengers storylines that catapulted it into the stratosphere in terms of popularity, we are now getting some new looks at time-honored characters. One of those is going to be Captain America who is now officially moving on from Chris Evans in the role to Anthony Mackie. The latter picked up the shield once and for all at the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and will now headline the next movie when Captain America 4 finally hits the big screen. According to decision-makers at the studio, this version of Captain America will be an entirely different kind of hero than we saw with Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers. It will be a new challenge for Anthony Mackie.
In an interview with Comicbook.com’s Phase Zero podcast, Marvel’s Vice President of Production and Development Nate Moore broke down some of the major differences we will see with Anthony Mackie taking over the character of Captain America. There has clearly been quite a bit of thought put into how they will take Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson and distinguish him from Rogers on the big screen. From the sound of it, though Wilson is now clearly Captain America with the shield and all, there are will be major pivots in how they approach how he goes about his business as well as his powers. Check out what Moore had to say about Anthony Mackie as Captain America:
“I think, he’s not Steve Rogers and I think that’s a good thing. 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…He’s a guy with wings and a shield, but he is a guy. 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 Anthony Mackie and Sam Wilson.”
This is an interesting description from Moore who is clearly laying the groundwork for a new take on the character when it comes to Captain America 4. And a lot of it makes perfect sense considering what we know already about Sam Wilson/ Falcon. Anthony Mackie faced a number of different challenges in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier with at least part of the storyline centering on his initial reluctance to take over the shield and the moniker as Captain America. This was despite being handed the shield from Rogers himself at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Anthony Mackie as Wilson doesn’t take the super-soldier serum when presented and there were aspects to the story that really wanted to ground him a certain everyman reality. Heck, part of the show was him trying to get a loan for a boat.
Sticking with these aspects of Anthony Mackie’s portrayal of Sam Wilson into the next movie make sense, though will be a bit divergent than other Marvel properties in that it sure looks like he will face an uphill climb with his powers. Moore seemed clear that whatever was coming down the pike for Anthony Mackie in the movie would be a struggle. A key aspect of the Captain America movies was that there was a moral and ethical struggle on top of the issues of fighting off bad guys intent on taking over the world. This could be more of the same though with Anthony Mackie Wilson being a bit under-muscled compared to Rogers.
While we still don’t have firm details about specific a specific story for Captain America 4 despite Moore letting on that Anthony Mackie will apparently get his butt-kicked repeatedly, there will be at least one other familiar face back in the mix. Sebastian Stan is set to reprise his role as Bucky Barnes/ Winter Soldier as well. These two are now basically joined at the superhero hip with the latest series giving them a deeper, though at times bickering relationship. We are sure to get more details about Anthony Mackie and Captain America 4 over the next few months with the movie tentatively set to hit screens in 2023.
