Anthony Mackie has clarified his comments after calling out Marvel for failing to hire more black crew members on any film other than Black Panther.
The actor, who has played the Falcon since 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Solider, initially said that only “[hiring] the black people for the black movie” could suggest that “they’re not good enough when you have a mostly white cast”.
Now, in a new interview with Fatherly, Mackie has explained that he believes – in Marvel’s case – this is ”an unawareness problem” as opposed to “a racism problem”.
“With Marvel, I really think with most companies, they feel like they’re doing what they should be doing. In no way, shape, or form, is it enough,” Mackie said.
“My big thing is, put your money where your mouth is. You can’t cast a black dude as one of your main superheroes and not expect him to have that conversation. It’s just in my DNA to have that conversation.”
Mackie continued: “It’s a huge opportunity for me to be part of the Marvel universe, so it’s my job to make sure the Marvel universe is as good as it can be.”
The actor made the original comments to Daveed Diggs during Variety’s Actors on Actors interview series.
He urged Marvel to “hire the best person for the job”, adding: “Even if it means we’re going to get the best two women, we’re going to get the best two men – fine, I’m cool with those numbers for the next 10 years.”
He said that, as a leading man, he will try to push for this as he has “the power and the ability to ask those questions”.
“It really bothered me that I’ve done seven Marvel movies where every producer, every director, every stunt person, every costume designer, every PA, every single person has been white,” he added.
Mackie said that the only black producer he's worked with on a Marvel film is Nate Moore.
The actor will next be seen in the first of Disney+’s Marvel TV shows, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, alongside Sebastian Stan. Find out everything we know about the series here.
