Captain America 4 Facing A Major Delay Because Of Anthony Mackie?
Anthony Mackie might have caused a pretty big delay to the upcoming fourth Captain America movie, but he has kind of a good excuse.
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Anthony Mackie is officially the new Captain America of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he might be throwing a wrench into the Marvel works. The ongoing phases of the MCU are a well-oiled machine by this point (and we are working on the correct Marvel movie order for you as proof), but all it seems to take to cause a pretty massive delay is one important actor having some other contractual issues (or a massive ongoing worldwide pandemic, but we digress). In this case, it appears that the forthcoming Captain America 4 movie might be getting delayed because Mackie has a prior commitment to Twisted Metal, an adaptation of the Playstation video game series that will be streaming on Peacock. In a recent interview with Extra TV, Anthony Mackie revealed that he was getting ready for an upcoming shoot, which many took to mean a new MCU project. Turns out, he really just is eating a lot of chicken breast and vegetables to get jacked for a post-apocalyptic wasteland show in which he delivers packages. Sorry.
To be fair, Anthony Mackie having a Peacock show is probably not the only thing that might be slowing down a Captain America movie. Marvel is currently in a pretty massive stage of re-development, post-Endgame, and appears to be working out how to hold onto its massive audiences after the departure of primary stars like Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans. However, the mammoth success of both Spider-Man: No Way Home and the fervent anticipation for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness gives them at least a little leeway. There has also been the stopgap measure of the Disney+ show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which acted as a bridge between Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson receiving the shield and his eventual acceptance of his new role.
It appears that Marvel Studios is leaning more into debuting new characters via Disney+ shows, as evidenced by the upcoming She-Hulk show starring Tatiana Maslany and Ms. Marvel starring Anjali Bhimani. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was the first indication that the MCU was fully going in transferring the roles of the Avengers onto new individuals, and so what happens to Anthony Mackie next in the eventual Captain America 4 will probably be a good signal of where the rest of the movies go. Of course, Marvel Studios is notoriously cagey about the specifics of their future plans, so we will just have to wait for the official announcement of a release date.
And besides, Anthony Mackie is certainly not wanting for work. Aside from the upcoming Twisted Metal series (which has been in development since February of 2021), he is set to star in an action thriller with Priyanka Chopra, titled Ending Things. Mackie has also been announced to make his directorial debut with Spark, a biopic of Claudette Colvin, one of the lesser-known pioneers of the Civil Rights era. As for when Captain America 4 will roll around (and whether Sebastian Stan will be showing up for some begrudging friendship), we will keep you updated.
