Anthony Mackie Reveals How Chris Evans Personally Told Him He’d Become Captain America

Passing the torch between actors playing the same iconic superhero rarely happens smoothly, let alone with genuine warmth between the two people involved. Yet few transitions in the MCU have been discussed with as much affection as the one connecting Chris Evans and Anthony Mackie.

Mackie’s Sam Wilson spent years as Falcon before eventually stepping into the Captain America mantle, culminating in one of the most emotional moments of ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ Since then, Mackie has carried that legacy forward, headlining his own solo feature with 2025’s ‘Captain America: Brave New World.’

Now, in a new cover story for Cigar Aficionado, Mackie has revealed exactly how he first learned he’d be taking over the role, and it turns out Evans himself broke the news well before the rest of the world found out. According to Mackie, the moment happened casually at Evans’ own house while the two were hanging out together.

“Chris Evans is somebody who I hold near and dear,” Mackie said in the interview with Cigar Aficionado. “We’re at Chris’ house, and because he’s Captain America, he gets the [script] pages first. So he’s like, ‘Yo, did you read the new scene?’ I’m like, ‘Nah, what’s up?’ So, he takes me down…and he gave me the script and let me read it. And it was really great and really emotional to learn it from a friend…I don’t know a lot of actors who would have appreciated or celebrated that moment with a fellow actor in that way because I was taking his job for all intents and purposes.”

That kind of gesture speaks to just how close the two actors have become since Mackie joined the franchise, first appearing as Falcon back when Evans was still firmly established as the face of the character. Evans originally suited up as Captain America in 2011’s ‘Captain America: The First Avenger,’ years before eventually handing off the shield to Mackie’s Sam Wilson at the end of ‘Endgame’ in 2019.

Rather than treating that transition as a quiet studio decision handled purely through casting announcements, Evans made sure his friend and co-star got to experience the reveal in a personal, meaningful way. Mackie’s comments suggest that gesture left a lasting impression, especially given how rare that kind of camaraderie can be between actors handing off the same role.

This story comes at a particularly relevant time, with ‘Avengers: Endgame’ having just returned to theaters in an expanded re-release ahead of ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ which arrives December 18. That re-release, titled ‘Avengers: Endgame Encore,’ pulled in a combined $86 million globally over its opening weekend, pushing the film’s lifetime total past $2.88 billion worldwide.

Given that ‘Endgame’ remains the very film where Mackie’s shield moment originally took place, revisiting this story now feels especially fitting as fans flock back to theaters to relive that scene. It’s also a reminder of just how much genuine off-screen friendship has shaped one of the MCU’s most significant on-screen legacy moments.

The first trailer for ‘CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD’ has been released.

In theaters on February 14. pic.twitter.com/BFhQ1WeZh3

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 12, 2024

With ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ set to reunite much of the franchise’s ensemble cast later this year, Mackie’s history with Evans adds an extra layer of anticipation for how their characters’ relationship might continue to be honored moving forward. Whether or not Evans makes any kind of appearance in the upcoming crossover, this story reinforces just how much mutual respect exists between the two men both on and off screen.

For fans who’ve followed Mackie’s journey from Falcon to Captain America, hearing this kind of behind-the-scenes detail adds real emotional weight to a transition that could have easily felt impersonal. Instead, it turns out one of the MCU’s biggest torch-passing moments was rooted in real friendship long before cameras ever started rolling.

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