#Anthony Mackie Was the MCU’s First Choice to Play Falcon and Didn’t Audition

Most of the Marvel superheroes in the MCU have multiple actors audition and even screentest for their respective roles before a final decision was made, but the role of Sam Wilson was offered to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier star Anthony Mackie from the get-go with no audition necessary. While this is a very rare occurrence when it comes to casting major roles at Marvel Studios, an exception was made for Mackie as everyone was in complete agreement from the start that he was the perfect Falcon.

Speaking about The Falon and the Winter Soldier in a new interview with Variety, Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige explained how Anthony Mackie got involved with the MCU, which comes down to knowing from the start that he was their guy and simply offering the role to him without an audition. From the interview:
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“The first experience was him being the unanimous first choice to play the character. We just offered him the role, in my memory, he did not audition. That’s only happened a handful of times at Marvel. Mr. Mackie was one of those times. I thought he would be great as this character. As we often do, when we’re casting, you cast for the immediate role at hand – which was Sam Wilson in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” but if it all goes well, that can grow and evolve into numerous things. You want an actor who can do it all, which of course, Anthony can.”

Mackie has been appearing in the MCU as Sam Wilson for years, debuting as the character in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He has also appeared in several other MCU movies, and we law saw him given the Captain America shield in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. He’ll finally be given a much bigger chance to shine alongside co-star Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes a.k.a. The Winter Soldier when The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premieres on Disney+ this month.

Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier picks up with Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes teaming up for a worldwide adventure that puts their abilities to the est as they fight the anti-patriotism group called the Flag-Smashers. Along with Mackie and Stan, the series will also star Daniel Brühl as Baron Helmut Zemo and Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter a.k.a. Agent 13. Other returning MCU characters include Don Cheadle as War Machine and Georges St-Pierre as Georges Batroc.

Before the new show premieres, Marvel fans will first be treated to the debut episode of Assembled, the documentary series chronicling the making of popular Marvel projects. The premiere episode featuring the making of WandaVision will premiere on March 12. One week later will see the release of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and after its six-episode run wraps on Disney+, the series will be given its own episode of Assembled as well.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is set to premiere on Friday, March 19, only on Disney+. This news comes to us from Variety.

Topics: Falcon and Winter Soldier