Anthony Mackie, aka the actor who plays Falcon in the upcoming Marvel series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, said he’s glad for the chance to help with Marvel’s move to the small-screen.
In a new interview with Variety, he revealed he initially had fears of failing.
“I didn’t think we could do on the television what we’d been doing on the big screen. I didn’t want to be the face of the first Marvel franchise to fail,” Mackie said in an interview with Variety. “Like, ‘See? We cast the Black dude, and now this shit is awful.’ That was a huge fear of mine, and also a huge responsibility with playing a Marvel character.”
Those fears eventually subsided for Mackie after he began reading writer Malcolm Spellman’s scripts from the series.
The 42-year-old actor said he worked his way up to the role of Marvel leading man and he’s excited to tell the story of a Black superhero taking on the mantle of Marvel’s most-patriotic hero Captain America. The series follows in the footsteps of films like Black Panther and Mackie seems game for it.
“For [Chadwick Boseman] and I, [representation] was never a conversation that needed to be had because of our backgrounds. There was a hinted-at understanding between the two of us, because we’re both from humble beginnings in the South; we have very similar backgrounds. We knew what the game was. We knew going into it,” he said.
Outside of Marvel, Mackie is looking for wildly different roles. The actor said he wants to play the lead in a goofy romantic comedy.
“I would love to do a cheesy old-school ‘When Harry Met Sally’-type of project,” he said. “One of those movies where I’m working outside and have to take my shirt off because it’s too hot. I want a romantic comedy. I want to do every movie written for Matthew McConaughey that he passed on.”
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which will also star Sebastian Stan, Daniel Brühl, Emily VanCamp, and Wyatt Russell, will premiere on Disney+ on March 19.
Head over to Variety to read the full interview with Anthony Mackie.
