Whether it’s taking on post-apocalyptic delivery orders in Twisted Metal or facing friendly haunts in the spooky comedy We Have a Ghost, Anthony Mackie is the kind of actor whose characters face threats without blinking, and audiences easily buy in because Mackie sells the bravado. But the star of the MCU sequel Captain America: Brave New World faces some of his most unique challenges yet in his new NatGeo special Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie: Gulf Coast, such as…giving a shark an anal swab.
While perhaps not everyone’s (or anyone’s) favorite way to celebrate spending time at or around a beach, putting a larger-than-average cotton swab into a shark’s heinie is technically more important than getting a tan or going for an ocean swim. So it obviously takes a hero like Anthony Mackie and others seen in the exclusive clip below, and not Captain America, to take on this kind of highly specific research. Check it out!
I doubt the MCU’s Cap knows why swabbing a shark’s anus is so important, but audiences will get an in-depth look at the factors that play into why Mackie is part of the new series in the first place when Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie: Gulf Coast arrives on NatGeo on Sunday, June 30. The actor hails from New Orleans, and returned to his Louisiana stomping grounds for a sea life experience that wasn’t tied to the recreational boating and fishing of his youth.
Rather, this series will be focusing on a troubling aquatic curiosity dubbed depredation, which has been affecting fishing communities all over the world, with Louisiana’s Gulf Coast being hit quite hard. Simply put, depredation happens when sharks go after and consume fisherman’s catches before the fish and other creatures are able to be retrieved from the water. Not only is it troubling for the idea that sharks are increasingly present in fishing-heavy areas, but it also means a somewhat unfair competition is happening between professionals and beasts.
To circle back around to the anal-swabbing side of things, the reason why Anthony Mackie and others are tasked with such a duty is so that the swab and feces can be tested for the inclusion of fish, so that those involved with the studies can draw conclusions about the more close-knit ties between humans and sharks over time, and ways to potentially find solutions for the future.
I know one shark who would be downright devestated if he had to be removed from being so close with his human compadres....
Mackie, who also has Twisted Metal Season 2 coming down the pipeline on Peacock, will hopefully get some traction at home for this act from his sons who don't care about Captain America. And if they still don't care, then he can threaten to put one of the used swabs in their beds while they're sleeping.
Don’t forget to swab, er, set your calendars for Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie: Gulf Coast, which will air on NatGeo on Sunday, June 30 at 9:00 p.m. ET., and will be available to stream with a Hulu subscription the next day. Head to our 2024 TV premiere schedule to see what other new and returning shows are coming soon.
