Anthony Mackie Weighs In On The Next Captain America In Falcon And The Winter Soldier

The days are counting down for the premiere of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the next series from the MCU to be released on Disney+. If the success of WandaVision is anything to go by, then fans can likely expect good things from this corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While audiences still have to wait until March 19 for this Captain America spin-off series, there are a few things about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that have already been brought to light. 

For instance, the show will see the return of Colonel Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl), the Sokovian special forces operative who incited the rift between Iron Man and Captain America in Captain America: Civil War. Other familiar characters who will appear in the series include Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) and Batroc (Georges St. Pierre), both of whom appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. One question has yet to be answered, and it's a big one: who will be the new Captain America? Actor Anthony Mackie gave his thoughts on the matter in a recent chat with Inverse.

The ending of Avengers: Endgame shows an aged Steve Rogers, who has decided to retire from the superhero life, as he hands over his signature shield to Sam Wilson, a.k.a. The Falcon. Although fans of the comics know that Sam takes up the mantle of Captain America in Marvel Comics canon, Mackie was quick to point out that the Falcon of the MCU was not nearly as keen on the idea. "At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Sam never accepted the shield," Mackie told Inverse. "Sam never said he was going to be Captain America. Sam never said he wanted to be Captain America. So, in the series, you learn who's going to be Captain America, who the shield is passed down to, and where we go from there."

Though Mackie's statement doesn't necessarily mean that Sam will never become Captain America in the series, it does raise some interesting points. After all, many characters have wielded Captain America's shield; even Bucky Barnes at one point was Captain America in the comics, so it's not entirely out of the question that he could be the one to take up the mantle in the Disney+ series. Whomever the next Captain America might be is completely up in the air at this point, and fans will have to wait and see when The Falcon and the Winter Soldier makes its debut in March.