Photo: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images for Disney
Anthony Mackie has found himself in a very cool and chill time to be promoting a movie that’s inexorably tied to what it means to be American. What are American values? Who gets to identify with “America” as a concept? Patriotism: yea or nay? Naturally, we’re demanding a Marvel movie answer these questions. While promoting Captain America: Brave New World in Rome, Mackie tried to make the argument that Captain America stands for things that matter beyond America’s increasingly tense borders. “Captain America represents a lot of different things and I don’t think the term, you know, ‘America’ should be one of those representations,” he said. “It’s about a man who keeps his word, who has honor, dignity, and integrity. Someone who is trustworthy and dependable.” Rather than see this as the plea to international audiences it so clearly is, some people chose to take it as a dig at the U S of A.
The comments are very similar to what Chris Evans said in 2011 promoting Captain America: The First Avenger. “I’m not trying to get too lost in the American side of it,” he told CBM. “I’ve said before in interviews, it feels more like he should just be called Captain Good. You know, he was created at a time when there was this undeniable evil and this guy was kind of created to fight that evil. I think that everyone could agree that nazis were bad.”
After Mackie’s remarks went viral, the actor walked them back on IG Stories. “Let me be clear about this, I’m a proud American and taking on the shield of a hero like CAP is the honor of a lifetime. I have the utmost respect for those who serve and have served our country. CAP has universal characteristics that people all over the world can relate to,” he wrote. So Mackie supports the troops, and also the whole world can relate to a hero who’s most well known for punching nazis.
