Anthony Mackie has been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2014. Debuting as Sam Wilson in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the actor has gone on to appear in the Avengers and Ant-Man franchises and co-starred in Disney+'s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.
In this week's Captain America: Brave New World, Mackie will take centre stage as the MCU's new Captain America. However, as the actor explained in an interview with Collider, he didn't turn to the comics for assistance when the time came to wield the shield.
"I literally just focused on the script," Mackie confirmed. "I mean, these, these stories are so interesting because they don't do the comic books page by page by page.They use the comic books as a blueprint or outline. So you can have three or four different comic books in one movie"
"So I stayed away from the comic books and just utilized the script and the story and the background that we've created of Sam Wilson to develop him into the Captain America he is in the movie," he added.
Mackie is far from the only actor not to feel the need to take a deep dive into the source material and Sam's story played out very differently on the page.
Plus, Mackie has been suiting up as this version of the character for long enough to arguably know how best to handle his transition from The Falcon to Captain America. More importantly, the Captain America: Brave New World star seems focused on what wearing the red, white, and blue means.
Asked what he wants the mantle and shield to represent during his tenure as Captain America, Mackie said, "There were two words that kept coming up on set every day we shot this movie, and it was compassion. And it was empathy. I think when you look at, you know, with great power comes great responsibility. Right? And Sam Wilson has now taken on the mantle of Captain America."
"So there’s a huge amount of responsibility and understanding that comes along with that. There's a huge amount of empathy that him, as a counselor, brings to the table that Steve Rogers didn’t have," he noted. "And so when you think of the shield, when you think of that moniker, I want you to, I want people to think of that: understanding, compassion, and empathy."
The first social reactions for Captain America: Brave New World will drop tonight at midnight, so we'll soon have a better idea of what to expect from Marvel Studios' latest movie. Deadpool & Wolverine was a return to form for the studio and the hope is this movie will keep the momentum going.
A new poster for Captain America: Brave New World has also been released which you can check out below.
In Captain America: Brave New World, after meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, played by Harrison Ford in his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, Sam Wilson 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.
The movie stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford. The movie is directed by Julius Onah and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. Louis D’Esposito and Charles Newirth serve as executive producers.
Captain America: Brave New World opens in U.S. theaters on February 14, 2025.