Earlier this year, it was announced that Marvel Studios was going forward with a fourth Captain America movie, following Disney+’s hit series The Falcon And The Winter Soldier. With Chris Evans’ MCU contract ending and his character Steve Rogers out of the picture, there’s been speculation of who the next movie will focus on. It’s been assumed that Anthony Mackie, who played Sam Wilson/Falcon in the Captain America movies and in the Disney+ spin-off series, would be the next Captain America. And now it’s finally confirmed.
Deadline reports that Mackie closed a deal to be the star of the next Captain America movie. According to the publication and their Marvel Studios sources, the movie’s set to be co-written by The Falcon And The Winter Soldier creator Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson, who’s also written for the show. No director’s attached yet. But here’s what’s strange: we’ve known about the movie since April. So why did it take this long for the deal to be closed? Wouldn’t it have happened before the announcement of a fourth movie being underway?
Even though the deal just closed, it was heavily implied that Falcon would be the next movie’s focus. As viewers will recall, at the end of Avengers: Endgame, Steve decides to stay in the past to be with his love, Peggy Carter. An elderly Steve returns to the present and hands Sam the Captain America shield, but in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, Sam—who feels undeserving of the role—hand it over to the Smithsonian. With the military needing a new Captain America, it doesn’t take long for John Walker accept the title, becoming a very shitty version of the hero. After Walker descends into chaos and spirals out of control, Sam and Bucky forcibly reclaim the shield. The last episodes of FATWS Sam show training and finally ready to become the next Captain America. It looks like this upcoming movie will be a continuation of where the show left off, and so it makes perfect sense for Mackie to be the star this time around.