Actor Anthony Mackie, who plays Sam Wilson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, recently shared that Marvel is a “space of controlled entertainment” while also addressing rumors of massive reshoots for the films.
(L-R): Zemo (Daniel Brühl), Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Sharon Carter/Agent 13 (Emily VanCamp) in Marvel Studios’ THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
While promoting his Paramount Plus series Twisted Metal, which just launched in the United Kingdom, Mackie told Radio Times, “I would say the Marvel thing is completely different, just because it’s such a space of controlled entertainment. Like, there’s only so much you can do. There’s only so much creativity you can bring to the table, because Stan Lee gave us so much content.”
He then contrasted this with Twisted Metal saying, “Whereas with this [Twisted Metal], it was like, ‘There’s a guy and a girl… go!’ So we were really able to build the world around it.”
(L-R): Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Marvel Studios’ THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
After Radio Times detailed that Twisted Metal’s lack of story in the original video games allowed for more creative freedom in the TV series, Mackie concurred, “Exactly. And that’s the hard thing about the Marvel universe. It’s like, you can’t really go outside of the lines of those comic books.”
He explained, “You know, when we introduced the Falcon, and the growth of the Falcon to Captain America, all of that had to coincide with what Stan had already gave us. So it’s an interesting juggle to be a part of that world. And this was more like, ‘Let’s just have fun and figure it out as we go.'”
Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Marvel Studios’ THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Later in the interview, Mackie discussed his role as Sam Wilson telling the outlet, “I always liken Marvel movies to that opening scene in Grease. It’s like going to summer camp, you know? You go back, it’s the same people. Some people have gotten fatter, some people have kids, some people have less hair. Like, it’s always the same thing. You check in with people and it’s just fun.”
He added, “That’s the best part about it. It’s fun to make these movies, and we’ve really become almost like a family. So, I know that [Captain America: Brave New World producers] Louis [D’Esposito] and Kevin [Feige] and Nate [Moore], they’re going to make the best product they can. So all the pressure is off, you know? The best part about it is going into something knowing it’s going to be a good movie because of the people you’re surrounded with, so I haven’t felt any pressure.”
“I mean, I’ve been having a great time with it,” he continued. “But it’s been a journey, man. It’s been a long interesting journey full of, you know, huge rewards and faltering expectations, shortcomings, but also just a really interesting ride.”
Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Marvel Studios’ THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Mackie also attempted to downplay rumors of massive reshoots. Scooper Daniel RPK claimed the film would undergo massive reshoots in the summer back in January. MarvelFilmNews reported, “Captain America: Brave New World will be undergoing reshoots from May until August.”
MarvelNewsFilms on X
READ: ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Reshoots Reportedly Scrapping Serpent Society From Film
Following this rumor, YouTuber Overlord DVD claimed his sources informed him that the film was being rewritten.
He said, “They are more convinced that Cap 4 doesn’t have a script. They say that what they are doing is shooting from a notebook that has notes on what they are supposed to do. According to the director this is a way of getting ahead of themselves while they wait for the official script.”
Overlord DVD added “This came from the director himself as the director and Anthony [Mackie] were in another heated discussion over the way the reshoots were being handled. It’s unclear just how long it will take to complete the rewrite. It is very clear to our source that Anthony’s biggest concern is this movie may get cancelled.”
As reported by ComicBookMovie.com, scooper CanWeGetSomeToast claimed the film was undergoing extensive and long-lasting reshoots because “the Serpent Society has been completely removed from The Falcon and the Winter Solider follow-up.”
Alex Perez from The Cosmic Circus disputed the claim that the Serpent Society was being removed from the film, but claimed the organization’s role in the film was being significantly reduced to an opening sequence rather than playing an ongoing role throughout the film.
The Serpent Society in Captain America #310 (1985), Marvel Comics
READ: Rumor: Test Screening For ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Goes Poorly
More recently a rumor from OHIMATM claimed test screenings for the films did not impress audiences. The X user wrote, “I’ve been able to get some insight into what some of the main issues were at the Captain America: Brave New World test screenings. Apparently audiences were unimpressed by the film’s action scenes and the chemistry between Cap and his love interest.”
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Not only did OHIMATM share that audiences did not find the actions scenes and the chemistry between Falcon and his love interest impressive, but they found the movie’s political intrigue “uninspired and unengaging.”
The user shared, “However, the biggest issue was how audiences responded to the film’s political content. You might think this’d mean audiences found it divisive, but it was actually worse than that: they found it boring.”
“I’m told that the overall feel was that the political material was ‘uninspired and unengaging’ that audiences found it lacked nuance, was overly expository, and really slowed the movie down. I’m also told that while the ‘three sequences that will be removed’ were a big part of the problem.”
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READ: Captain America Brave New World Reshoots Allegedly Due to Anti-Trump Script
The user continued, “The film’s issues go beyond that and will likely include significant rewrites throughout as well as adding/removing characters. I’m told that Marvel really wants to keep the summer window for reshoots in order to avoid another release date delay not just because it’d mean vacating what they feel is a good release date for the film, but because, as usual, delaying this film would result in a domino effect whereby it would likely mean delaying others.”
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Mackie downplayed the rumors of reshoots telling Radio Times, “We shot the next film and now because we had this big strike, it kind of delayed everything. So now we’re going in to do our reshoots, which isn’t a big deal.”
He elaborated, “Every Marvel movie I’ve done has done between six weeks and three months of reshoots. It’s just how it works. All of these big budget superhero movies, all of them do reshoots. When we did Endgame, we did like three months of reshoots, so it’s always a thing where you shoot what you have, get it in the editing, you see what you got, then you come back, and you make it better. So it’s just the way the process works.”
“I mean, I’ve done, I guess, like eight Marvel movies now. And we’ve done reshoots on all of them. So we were going back in this summer, and seeing what we got and make it better,” he concluded.
Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Marvel Studios’ THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
What do you make of Mackie downplaying the rumors regarding reshoots? What do you make of his comments on how Marvel movies are “controlled entertainment?”
I will pass on this surly woke and “the message” loaded piece. Stop giving them your money. They hate your guts.