When Sebastian Stan revealed his nine-picture deal with Marvel Studios earlier this year, it painted a pretty clear picture of what the comic book franchise has planned for the future of Captain America. With Chris Evans' contract ending after Avengers 3, it makes sense that Marvel would follow the events of the comics and have the character's life-long best friend, Bucky Barnes (Stan's character), pick up the title and the shield to become the new Captain America. Of course, any confirmation about that sort of stuff is still years and years away - but that's not stopping Captain America: The Winter Soldier star Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson a.k.a. Falcon) from talking about the change-over's potential.
The actor was present at Fandomfest in Louisville, Kentucky this past weekend, and ComicBook.com was able to squeeze a few interesting quotes out of him about the future of Captain America. With news dropping earlier this summer about Sam Wilson becoming the new Captain America in Marvel Comics, Mackie was asked about the potential to see him throw on the star-spangled costume in the Cinematic Universe. He responded saying that he was very happy about the changes being made on the page, but that it would take many years for anything like that to happen in the movies - largely because he believes that he is second in line for the title. Said Mackie,
"I’m excited about it. I think if it goes that way in the movies that it would take a long time, because there’s so many evolutions before that. You know, I’m excited to see Sebastian [Stan] play Cap. I think Sebastian’s a great actor. But I love seeing Chris Evans as Cap, so I feel like they can go any way they want. I’m enjoying my part beside Cap. I’m in no rush to be Cap."
The question that looms behind these quotes is the amount of official information Anthony Mackie is privy to behind the scenes. Much like S.H.I.E.L.D. in the fictional universe, it's not hard to imagine that information is compartmentalized at Marvel Studios to reduce leaks - and the executives probably want to keep valuable information out of the heads of actors who are constantly being interviewed and drilled for scoops. It's likely that Mackie is only name-dropping Sebastian Stan as Captain America because he is aware of the same news I outlined in the first paragraph.
We sadly still have a long, long time to wait until any of these questions of about the future of Captain America are officially answered. Not only is Captain America 3 not set to come out until May 6, 2016, but there’s still a whole Cap adventure waiting for us in next year’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Certainly more and more info will leak out as we get closer to both of those release dates, so stay tuned.
