More From Anthony Mackie On CAPTAIN AMERICA 2; Keeps Mum On The Falcon's ‘Redwing’
Confirming an exact shooting date for the anticipated sequel, Anthony Mackie comments on the Russo Brothers, Chris Evans, and more about The Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
While he's apparently never been the first choice for a role throughout his career, Mackie said, after being reminded about the Marvel sequel, “Okay, I was the first choice for that. I forgot about that. But that was another one of those things where they are like… Actually wait, was I? I was! You got me, that was it. But I can’t talk about it. I’m in it.” The interviewer then straightforwardly asked if The Falcon's pet falcon, Redwing, who the superhero shared a mental and emotional connection with in the comics, will appear in the movie. Intentionally avoiding the question, Mackie asserts, “I will have wings. I will be able to fly. I will be a superhero and fight people, namely The Winter Soldier. (laughing) Man, I told you I can’t talk,” he joked, after being asked the same question once more. “This is the first job I got asked to do first, and you’re trying to get me fired first. I have no idea what you’re talking about. This is what I learned about franchises. They can always cast somebody else and say, “Well that last person died,” or just not address it. You see the second movie, and the guy is a different guy than the first, and they're like, ‘Yep, same dude to me.’ “I am very happy to be here (in his Eddie Murphy/Coming To America voice).”
About The Winter Soldier's duo directors Joe and Anthony Russo, Mackie was then inquired about NBC's Community, which the Russo brothers executive produced and directed episodes of, and whether the series played a part of him wanting to join the Marvel venture. “A little bit,” he admitted. “The thing about Community is it’s not a natural sitcom. It works really well and it’s very character driven. So when I saw the show, because I have a friend on the show, I’ve seen it a few times, I was surprised that they picked the two of them to direct it. But then after the success of the The Avengers, I understood why. Avengers did really well, because it was serious at times and funny at times, and it was just a lighthearted, feel-good, buy-some-popcorn movie, and they are really talented guys and they are really open to the idea of bringing a new spin to the Captain America franchise, so I look forward to seeing what they do with it once I read it.”
Speaking on his relationship with the Captain America star, Chris Evans, who he just wrapped filming with on A Many Splintered Thing, Mackie says, “Chris and I have been in a lot of dark places together, and the thing I love about Chris, we met over some "apple juice" and it was like one of those experiences where there’s a dude you meet and you’re like “Man, you’re a cool dude.” Then a whole bottle of "apple juice" later you’re like “Man, we're friends.” Just a dark, dark place.”
“It was funny; a lot of the research I found was online. My older brother was a huge comic book buff. So when the news came out online, he called me and just gave me the whole rundown. Luckily, I have a lot of friends who weren’t cool growing up, but who are really cool now, so they read a lot of comic books. So I would just call and ask them, and they would send me all of this stuff online, and I got to read a bunch of the old comic books. It’s fortunate, because it’s a take off the comic book, it’s not the exactly storyline of the comic book.”