‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Star Anthony Mackie Is Taking on ‘Macbeth’ on Broadway in His Long-Awaited Return to the Stage

Anthony Mackie has spent much of the past decade as one of Marvel’s most recognizable faces, but his roots are firmly in the theater. The Juilliard-trained actor was a fixture of New York stages before superhero movies made him a household name.

Now he is going back. After years of blockbuster filming schedules, Mackie is preparing to step into one of Shakespeare’s most demanding roles in a major New York production.

Mackie will star as Macbeth in a new Broadway production, according to Deadline.

Deadline’s Baz Bamigboye reported the story as an exclusive, saying Mackie will take on the role from spring 2027. It will be his first time on Broadway in 16 years, since he appeared in Martin McDonagh’s ‘A Behanding in Spokane’ alongside Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell and Zoe Kazan.

Rehearsals begin in February 2027, with previews running from late March or early April, and the play is scheduled to run until July. The Broadway theater has yet to be announced.

Mackie will play the Thane of Cawdor in a New York transfer of director Max Webster’s production, which premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in London in late 2023 with David Tennant and Cush Jumbo as the Macbeths. It later moved to the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End for a sold-out 11-week season, and Deadline notes it won praise for its staging and innovative use of sound.

Mackie said the theater has always been central to him. “I started as a theater kid,” he told Deadline, adding that being able to play Macbeth on Broadway is not something many people can say.

The idea took hold while he was shooting ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ in London. Chatting with his friend and mentor Wendell Pierce about theater work, Mackie said it gave him the itch to get back on stage.

He is also eyeing a London stage debut, saying he hopes it happens sooner or later. For now, though, the focus is on Shakespeare’s Scottish tragedy.

Mackie described Macbeth as a man whose ambition got the best of him, and he sees the story as especially poignant right now. “We’re living in the day and age of ambition,” he said in the same interview with Deadline.

He was also excited about how Webster’s version uses sound. The microphones, Mackie explained, mean the audience can hear every whisper, and “the house comes to the stage.”

Webster and the production’s casting directors are still searching for an actress to play Lady Macbeth and other key characters. Mackie suggested the company will be an all-American cast.

Mackie will be following in some famous footsteps. Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga starred in a 2022 Broadway revival of ‘Macbeth’ directed by Sam Gold, which ran into the summer of that year.

That makes the play a recurring draw for film stars, and it gives Mackie a chance to put his own stamp on a role that has been taken on by actors of all kinds. His Broadway run follows the Donmar’s well-reviewed staging, which should give him a strong foundation.

The commitment also affects Marvel’s schedule. Mackie plays Sam Wilson, the current Captain America, and he said that once he finishes on Broadway, he’ll go finish up all the ‘Avengers’ work for ‘Secret Wars.’

Deadline describes ‘Secret Wars’ as the next movie releasing late next year, so Mackie’s stage run appears set to wrap before he returns to the Marvel set. In the meantime, ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ is due out in December.

That combination of Broadway prestige and blockbuster fame is rare. It also underlines how much of Mackie’s career has been about moving between worlds, from experimental theater to the biggest franchise in Hollywood.

For fans, the question is whether he can bring the same charisma to Shakespeare’s villain-king that he brings to Sam Wilson. We will find out in spring 2027.

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