Captain America: Brave New World star Anthony Mackie appeared at a recent event to promote the next Marvel Studios movie, and the actor made some comments about what he feels the iconic character should be seen to represent that have come in for quite a bit of backlash online.
Mackie's Sam Wilson inherited the mantle and shield from Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in Avengers: Endgame, and officially became the MCU's new Sentinel of Liberty in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Disney+ series.
Brave New World will be his first big-screen outing as Cap.
“Captain America represents a lot of different things, and I don’t think the term ‘America’ should be one of those representations," Mackie said. "It’s about a man who keeps his word, who has honor, dignity and integrity. Someone who is trustworthy and dependable.”
Some feel that Mackie's comments have been at least somewhat misconstrued, and that he actually meant that America shouldn't be all the hero represents. While this could be the case and the actor simply misspoke, it's very clearly not what he said!
"It's kind of like an aspect of a dream come true," he continued. "All of us as actors want to get back to that day before someone told you 'no.' When you look out your window, and you see a five-year-old kid with a stick, and he's slaying dragons to save the princess in the tower, the kid really believes there are dragons out there, the kid really believes the stick is a sword, and he's really trying to save that princess. And then one day, someone told him, 'No, there are no dragons, that's not a sword, and that princess is not there.' And all of his little dreams were dashed, so as an actor I think our job is to get back to that day where we see that dragon, and we slay that dragon to save that princess and that's kind of what that movie was for me."
Have a look at the clip for yourselves at the link below, and let us know what you think in the comments section.
After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, played by Harrison Ford in his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.
Captain America: Brave New World also stars Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford. The film is directed by Julius Onah and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. Louis D’Esposito and Charles Newirth serve as executive producers.
Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World opens in U.S. theaters on February 14, 2025.