Anthony Mackie has officially closed a deal to star in Captain America 4 as the eponymous character for Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), per Deadline. It is not yet known whether Mackie’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier co-star Sebastian Stan will return to play Bucky Barnes.
Today’s news follows word from April that Captain America 4 is in the works, but at that time it was not confirmed that Anthony Mackie would play the lead, even if it seemed obvious. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier head writer and creator Malcolm Spellman was tapped to co-write the screenplay with fellow Falcon series writer Dalan Musson. Additionally, rumors have circulated that Chris Evans could return to the MCU in some form, but Deadline does not believe he will appear in Captain America 4.
Mackie and Stan co-starred in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier earlier this year, giving Marvel fans a more grounded series to chew on after WandaVision premiered in January. The buddy-cop superhero show gave a glimpse of life after the events of Avengers: Endgame and concluded with Mackie’s character accepting his new role as Captain America. The Disney+ show only came to an end this April, though, so don’t expect a release date for Captain America 4 for quite some time.
Meanwhile, Disney is trudging forward with other MCU entries. The company provided a sendoff for Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow last month, lawsuit notwithstanding. The animated What If…? show is currently in the middle of delivering hypothetical superhero scenarios on Disney+, while big-budget films such as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, and Spider-Man: No Way Home aim to make their way to theaters before the year is out.
