Anthony Mackie Thought He'd Been Cast As Black Panther When He First Joined The MCU

Anthony Mackie is in a pretty good place at the moment. Not only is he starring in the Peacock adaptation of the popular car combat video game series "Twisted Metal," but he's also set to be at the center of an upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe tentpole with "Captain America: New World Order."

However, while Mackie first took on the role of The Falcon before accepting the mantle of the new Captain America, the actor told Inverse that he initially thought he was being cast in a different role altogether. In fact, Mackie thought that he'd landed the role that Chadwick Boseman eventually secured, that of Prince T'Challa in "Black Panther."

"What other major comic book figure has enough of a presence to have his own movie?" Mackie recalled wondering. "So when they hit me up, and they were like, 'Yo, so it's Sam Wilson,' I'm like, 'Really?'" the actor explained. Still, even if it sounds like the performer was a little disappointed to discover that he was playing The Falcon rather than Black Panther, there's no doubt that being in the MCU has been a huge part of his acting career.

Considering how much The Falcon has blown up as a character in the MCU and his future as the new Captain America, Anthony Mackie has become a major part of the franchise, even if it isn't as Prince T'Challa as he initially thought. "I'll never forget, Joe Russo said, 'Listen, so we're doing this movie. We want you to be in it," the actor recalled. "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.'"

There were other reasons why Mackie thought that he'd been tapped to play Black Panther in the MCU as well. After all, as the star of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" explained, he'd been rallying for the part of T'Challa for a long time. "I had been contacting Marvel a lot about Black Panther," he said. "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***ing loved Black Panther." Either way, as The Falcon continues to soar, the actor sounds like he's happy to be where he's at.