Anthony Mackie Requests to Portray Black Panther in Letters to Marvel

• Anthony Mackie, star of “Captain America,” revealed in an interview with Inverse that he had initially expressed interest in playing the role of Black Panther in the Marvel movies.
• Mackie shared that he had written multiple letters to Marvel Studios, passionately advocating for his casting as Black Panther.
• When Marvel Studios approached Mackie about a role, he mistakenly believed it was for the character of Black Panther.

Anthony Mackie, known for his role as the Falcon in “Captain America,” shared that he had written numerous letters to Marvel Studios expressing his desire to portray the iconic character of Black Panther before joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In the interview with Inverse, Mackie revealed that he had originally set his sights on playing Black Panther, a role he was deeply passionate about during his childhood.

“I had been contacting Marvel a lot about Black Panther,” he explained. “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.”

Mackie shared that Marvel Studios eventually reached out to his manager and arranged a meeting with Marvel producer Nate Moore and directors Joe and Anthony Russo.

Recalling their conversation, Mackie said, “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. I was like, ‘You know what, I like y’all dudes. I’ll do it. I’ll go on this ride with you.’

Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP / Marvel

Only a few weeks later did Mackie discover that he had been cast as the Falcon, not Black Panther, the role he had anticipated.

Mackie expressed his surprise, saying, “What other major comic book figure has enough of a presence to have his own movie? So when they hit me up and they were like, ‘Yo, so it’s Sam Wilson,’ I’m like, ‘Really?’

In the wake of the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed T’Challa, the mantle of Black Panther was passed on to his co-star Letitia Wright in the sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

Now, after appearing in six movies and a Disney+ series, Mackie is preparing to lead his own Marvel movie as the new Captain America. He admits that there is a “huge amount of pressure” associated with the role.

The film, originally titled “Captain America: New World Order,” has recently been renamed “Captain America: Brave New World.” Mackie revealed that he was not informed of the reason behind the title change.