As an actor, you are at the mercy of the producers. Sometimes a character doesn’t bring the hoped-for success or is simply designed from the start so that it will appear in the next film or series episode dies an inglorious death. That’s what Marvel star Anthony Mackie first thought of his character when Captain America actor Chris Evans actually wanted to make him happy.
Anthony Mackie completely misunderstood Chris Evans’ Captain America delivery
After Chris Evans’ Captain America retired, Mackie’s character Sam Wilson took over his position. Previously, Wilson had been a junior member of the Avengers as Falcon. In one of the most touching scenes of Avengers 4: Endgame, Steve Rogers presents his famous shield to his successor. Evans, who had heard about the scene earlier than Mackie, wanted to make his colleague happy. But that backfired. For now. Mackie said in the Fandango interview:
I found it through [Chris Evans] out of here. He was like, ‘Have you read the new script?’ I said no. He said, ‘So you don’t know?’ And since I’m black, I immediately think, ‘I’m going to fucking die! They want to get rid of me. I didn’t even cause any problems.’
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Mackie continues:
He opens the last ten pages of the script and says: ‘Read!’ And when I get to the important part, I ask: ‘Wait, why are you giving me your shield?’ And he says, ‘Well, because you’re Captain America now!’
According to Mackie, he and Evans were happy afterwards “jumping around in a circle like two twelve year olds, who just met Mickey Mouse”.
Instead of burying his character, Marvel will bring him to theaters in a few weeks with Captain America 4: Brave New World. However, Mackie’s fear of his character’s death is not entirely unfounded: in many film productions, black and other non-white characters often die in order to justify the emotional development of a white protagonist. TV Tropes calls the phenomenon “Black Dude Dies First“.
When is Captain America 4 coming to cinemas?
Mackie’s character survived and will now have the opportunity to save the world in his own movie. Captain America 4: Brave New World is coming on February 13, 2025 to the cinema.