"I wanted to be Black Panther": Anthony Mackie dishes on his Marvel ambitions

While it is impossible to imagine Sam Wilson (Falcon) being played by anyone other than Anthony Mackie currently, it was hardly what the actor initially wanted, as revealed by him in an exclusive interview with Inverse on Wednesday, June 28. The Falcon and Winter Soldier star revealed that he was a huge Black Panther fan and had always wanted to play the role.

For Anthony Mackie, this was far from a hidden ambition. He had actively tried to land the role before he became Sam Wilson, Captain America's most trusted comrade. He even revealed that he had written letters to Marvel, hoping that he would land the role. Speaking about this phase, Mackie told Inverse:

"I had been contacting Marvel a lot about Black Panther,...I had written them letters. I was trying to find a way to make them make Black Panther. And I wanted to be Black Panther because growing up I f**king loved Black Panther."

But things did not go in this direction, as we all know, and the late Chadwick Boseman ended up taking up the mantle of the Black Panther. But funnily enough, Anthony Mackie had assumed that he was getting the role when he was first contacted by Marvel.

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Anthony Mackie reveals he presumed he was cast as Black Panther

Anthony Mackie thought his calls were answered when Marvel scheduled a meeting with him. But funnily enough, they did not tell Mackie that he was up for the role of Sam Wilson, so the actor assumed that he was going to play Black Panther. This casting was for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, quite sometime before the MCU got its standalone Black Panther film.

Mackie revealed this in the interview and admitted that he was shocked when the creators told him that the role was that of the Falcon. Mackie told Inverse:

"I’ll never forget, Joe Russo said, ‘Listen, so we’re doing this movie. We want you to be in it. We can’t say what character you’re playing or who else is going to be in it. Would you do it?’ And that was it...I was like, ‘You know what, I like y’all dudes. I’ll do it. I’ll go on this ride with you."

He continued:

"What other major comic book figure has enough of a presence to have his own movie?...So when they hit me up and they were like, ‘Yo, so it’s Sam Wilson,’ I’m like, ‘Really?"'

Anyhow, Anthony Mackie did pick up the role and played it to perfection. The significance of Falcon increased over the years, with the actor soon set to star in the fourth Captain America film, which will see him take up center stage after spending years in Steve Rogers' (played by Chris Evans) shadow.

This Captain America film will effectively change Sam Wilson's role entirely. Mackie also spoke about the upcoming film in the interview with Inverse, revealing how it was a high-pressure job:

"There’s a huge amount of pressure...You throw my dumb a*s in the water, and you’re like, ‘Swim.’ I’m like, ‘Sh*t.’ But at the same time, it’s all in the state of mind. I’ve been given a great cast. I’ve been given a great group of people who I’ve worked with before."

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Captain America: Brave New World is set to premiere on July 26, 2024.