How Anthony Mackie Learned About Avengers: Endgame's Captain America Twist

falcon avengers infinity war

SPOILER WARNING: Big time spoilers follow! Please see this movie and then come back here later!

Avengers: Endgame may not close the door for every character, but it certainly serves as a finale for some huge pillars of this cinematic franchise. New beginnings and endings collide in the final scene of Endgame with Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson. It ends in a huge moment for both characters, and Anthony Mackie has finally opened up about filming the scene, what it means for the future, and the extremely touching and awesome way he first learned about it.

Okay, it's spoiler time. The Russo Bros. may be lifting the spoiler-ban on Monday, but I don't want to get beat up, so this is your last chance to turn away.

All right then. In the final moments of Endgame, Steve Rogers volunteers to travel back in time and return the Infinity Stones to prevent some very dark alternate realities. After doing his job, Steve decides to finally live the life he's always wanted and instead of returning to the present, stays in the 1940's to be with Peggy Carter. He arrives back in the main timeline as an old man, having lived a full and content life with his one true love.

But the world needs a Captain America, and Steve hands Sam Wilson his old shield. That's right, Falcon becomes the new Captain America. It's a super sweet and touching scene that has a lot of weight to it, and that's almost the exact same way Mackie learned about the scene. He was told by none other than Chris Evans, and they got to share a nice moment together.

We were at [Chris Evans’] house and he goes, 'You excited?' And I go, 'What are you talking about?' and he goes, 'You don't know?' He jumps up, runs out of the room and comes back in with the script… We cried. We drank. We laughed. I am very happy I got that moment with Chris, for him to not only pass me the shield, but to tell me it was happening.

Mackie told the IMDb Show that he learned about Falcon's future at Chris Evans' house. Mackie didn't even know about it yet and it sounds like Evans was incredibly excited to tell him about it. It's great that the two of them got to share a private moment about it, considering that their characters are so close in the movies.

Sam Wilson's future is looking bright, and Mackie sounds excited to see where it all goes. He also spoke about how he feels about the big change, what it means going forward, and what he hopes it'll mean to his sons. (I'm not crying, you are!)

It means a lot to me for my sons to see Captain America as a black dude and for me to be that dude to my sons. So that moment was not just, 'Hey, we're acting.' It was more of a thing. And then they cut and I cried. And Chris cried. And the Russos cried. And everyone cried. It was an emotional day.

We can probably bet on the Falcon and Winter Soldier Disney+ series to shed some light on how Sam will become Captain America. Until then, why don't you go see Avengers: Endgame. It doesn't need the help, but it's a really good movie.

Matt Wood

Matt has lived in New Jersey his entire life, but commutes every day to New York City. He graduated from Rowan University and loves Marvel, Nintendo, and going on long hikes and then greatly wishing he was back indoors. Matt has been covering the entertainment industry for over two years and will fight to his dying breath that Hulk and Black Widow make a good couple.