Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson / Captain America promises a ‘fresh start’ for the MCU!

The Captain America: Brave New World star, Anthony Mackie, recently stated that the long-overdue sequel is hoping to offer a “clear reset” for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s currently chaotic creative direction. Presumably, this aims to maintain the franchise’s reputation amidst its continuous quality decline.

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Speaking with Entertainment Weekly after Marvel’s first official screening of movie footage at 2024 CinemaCon, the Brother to Brother actor offered his viewpoint on his first full appearance as the Star-Spangled Avenger. As the MCU prepares for a major reset following the events of Avengers: Endgame, fans have high hopes for seeing how Mackie’s Captain America shapes the franchise’s future.
Anthony Mackie in a still from Falcon and The Winter Soldier
Avengers: Endgame featured Chris Evans’ last appearance as Captain America/Steve Rogers in 2019.

Anthony Mackie Takes the Shield: How His Captain America Differs from Chris Evans’?

Beginning with his assessment that the story of Captain America: Brave New World is going to be less imaginative in comparison to some of Marvel’s recent releases, Anthony Mackie said that his Captain America will be tasked with reassembling the Avengers. The actor told EW:

“It made more sense for it to be more of a grounded espionage action movie as opposed to aliens and airplanes coming through portals and s–t.”

Despite having appeared in numerous films and having seen them all by now, Mackie stated that this one offered him the opportunity to “truly establish himself as a true action star and Avenger”. Moreover, the 8 Mile actor, 45, claimed that Julius Onah’s film would herald a new creative direction for the entire MCU. To quote him:

“This movie is a clear reset. It really reestablishes the idea of what this universe is and what this universe is going to be. I think with these movies, you’re getting a clear, new branding of what Marvel is headed towards the same way they did with Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”

Chris Evans as Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
In light of this, Mackie eventually pointed out that the movie’s title itself alluded to the idea of “refreshing” the franchise:

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“The title implies that there’s a new, bigger enemy now; there’s a new frontier that we have to conquer…It is a new storyline with new characters, with new beliefs, and it creates a new idea of this new world that we’re going into.”

The interview also contained a mention of his admiration for Chris Evans’ portrayal of the former Captain America, Steve Rogers:

“We have more of a friendship as opposed to the way I admired Steve or the way I didn’t like Bucky.”

Interestingly, Mackie has previously hinted that his portrayal of Captain America would differ from Chris Evans’ portrayal, even before the movie was mentioned as adding a set of “new beliefs” to the MCU.

Exploring Anthony Mackie’s Unique Interpretation of Captain America

Anthony Mackie as Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
In February 2023, Anthony Mackie went into detail about the differences between his role and Chris Evans’ iconic Steve Rogers. In an interview with Kevin Polowy of Yahoo! Entertainment, Mackie confirmed, “My Cap, he is not a superhero”, in response to the question of how his “approach to the mantle departs most dramatically from Chris’.”

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According to the Captain America: The Winter Soldier actor:

“He does not have a super-serum. So his superpower is his humanity. So I think with him he has to come to the stage with a very different understanding of what it is it to be a good guy or be a bad guy, and what are the decisions that make you tow that line in the way that you did.”

He continued, “I just see him as more of a humane Cap, as opposed to a Cap of judgment, where this is right, or this is wrong.”

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With Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, Harrison Ford as President of the United States (Ross), and Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, Captain America: Brave New World is slated to release on February 14, 2025.