Anthony Mackie may be the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s new Captain America, but the ex-Falcon actor initially begged to be a different superhero.
New movies in Marvel’s Phase 5 include the Captain America 4 release date, which follows up on Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) taking up the red and blue mantle in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier series.
As it turns out, an episode of What If… where we see Mackie as the Black Panther may be in order because that’s the Marvel Cinematic Universe character he actually wanted to portray.
Mackie told Inverse, “I had been contacting Marvel a lot about Black Panther 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 fucking loved Black Panther.”
When he finally got a call back, it wasn’t what he expected, “I’ll never forget. Joe Russo said, ‘Listen, so we’re doing this movie. We want you to be in it. 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.” Mackie said. “I was like, ‘You know what, I like y’all dudes. I’ll do it. I’ll go on this ride with you.’”
Mackie is a perfect Sam Wilson, and the late Chadwick Boseman captured hearts as T’Challa, so all’s well that ends well. Mackie at present has his sights set on Captain America: New World Order, which also stars Harrison Ford and is rumored to be a Hulks-heavy movie (that’s right, plural).
For more on the current state of spandex and shields, check out when does Secret Invasion take place, how to watch Secret Invasion, and our answer to is Nick Fury’s wife a Skrull in Secret Invasion.