Anthony Mackie shares a sweet story on how Chris Evans told him he was Captain America

We’re just weeks away from the release of Captain America: Brave New World, Marvel Studios’ fourth entry in its Captain America saga, and Anthony Mackie’s first theatrical outing as the titular hero. Of course, Chris Evans’ Cap is a tough act to follow, but luckily, Mackie had his support when he first found out he was being handed the shield.

Anthony Mackie’s ability to have chemistry with literally any of his Marvel co-stars needs to be studied. Throughout the Infinity Saga, we watched his Sam Wilson form an unlikely friendship with Steve Rogers (“On your left!”), whom the latter would ultimately pass the Captain America moniker to in the final moments of Avengers: Endgame. In my opinion, Sam and Steve’s BFF-ship isn’t appreciated enough and often gets overshadowed by Mackie’s “odd couple” dynamic with Bucky Barnes actor, Sebastian Stan.

Still, Evans and Mackie are clearly real-life pals, so it only makes sense that Evans was the one who passed the torch to Mackie before taking his final MCU bow—even if it wasn’t exactly intentional.

Anthony Mackie recalls Chris Evans spoiling Sam Wilson’s Avengers: Endgame fate

Speaking with Fandango, Mackie shared a sweet anecdote about the moment he discovered he’d be taking on the Cap mantle in the MCU—and it’s just as chaotic as you’d expect. From the sounds of it, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige didn’t give Mackie much of a heads-up about his character’s promotion, leading Evans, who’d already finished reading the Endgame script, to break the news while shooting in Atlanta. Ironically enough, Mackie actually thought Sam was going to be killed off, joking: “And you know, being Black, I’m like ‘I’mma die, damn. They’re getting rid of me, man.” Little did he know …

“He gets the new script. He goes to like the last 10 pages, and he goes ‘read it!’ So me thinking they killed me off […] I get to the part and it’s like, you know, I’m reading the scene between us, and it goes ‘he hands him the shield.’ I’m like, ‘so why did you give me the shield? He’s like, ‘because you’re f**king Captain America.’ […] We hug, we jump up and down… It was hilarious.”

Captain America proves the power of good recasting

I think we can all agree that Sam earned the Captain America name, even if it took him a little time to fully accept that Steve was gone—as explored in the Disney+ The Falcon and the Winter Soldier miniseries. Mackie’s gig as the next “Star Spangled Man with a Plan” is one of the few decisions Marvel has made post-Endgame that hasn’t been ripped to shreds by “fans” (well, for the most part), as Sam’s character development and his friendship with Steve made him the natural choice for Cap.

Moreover, Sam has had to discover for himself what being “Captain America” really means, and what it represents to him as a Black man living in America. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier absolutely went there when talking about the complicated legacy of the shield, via that Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) arc in episode 2. Based on what we know, Brave New World will continue to address these issues, on top of the whole, y’know, Red Hulk (Harrison Ford) thing.

Hopefully, we’ll get to see plenty more of Mackie’s Cap in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars—perhaps even with a little Multiversal cameo from Evans along the way. For now, however, Captain America: Brave New World hits theaters on February 13, 2025.