Captain America Director defends Anthony Mackie against Republican indignation

“Captain America: Brave New World” -Director Julius Onah gave An interview with Vanity Fair And cooled controversy over Anthony Mackie’s viral comments about the film representing America. The actor ignited right -wing indignation last month during a question and answer in which he said “Captain America represents a lot of different things, and I don’t think the phrase ‘America’ should be one of these representations.”

“It’s about a man who holds his word who has honor, dignity and integrity,” Mackie added at the time. “A person who is reliable and reliable.”

Some right-wing teachers felt that Mackie was tangling the patriotism of the superhero, while others thought he was downright anti-American. The controversy grew high enough that Mackie took to Instagram a few days later to clarify his remarks.

“Let me be aware of this, I am a proud American, and take on the shield of a hero as Cap is the credit for a lifetime,” Mackie wrote. “I have the greatest respect for those who serve and have served our country. Cap has universal properties that people around the world can relate to. “

Onah told now Vanity Fair That “things sometimes become mistaken” in response to the controversy created by Mackie’s original comment. The director added: “Talking to myself I approached this movie with a very specific point of view … The feeling of society, which is something I have personally experienced in different ways while living in the USA, another thing, There was the idea of ​​empathy, which in my opinion is Sam Wilson’s superpower. That for me is not only timely, but incredibly important. “

Mackie’s original America comment was not quite different from the original original Captain America actor Chris Evans took before his first Marvel movie opened more than a decade ago. Evans told CBR After his Captain America -Casting was announced that he “did not try to get too lost in the American side of it.”

“This is not a flag that waves,” he said. “It’s red, white and blue, but it just happens that the character was created in America during the wartime, where there was a common enemy, even though it is Captain America. I have 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 evil. I think everyone could agree that Nazis were bad, and he, Cap, just so happened to carry the red, white and blue. ”

Onah also said that Mackie’s character, Sam Wilson, has no doubt about being the new Captain America in the movie after the Disney+ series, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” treated primarily Sam’s concerns about picking up the shield.

“That question is resolved,” said Onah. “Sam is our Captain America now. He is our hero. “

“Captain America: Brave New World” opens in theaters 14 February from Disney and Marvel Studios.