Marvel star Anthony Mackie thinks he only has 10 more years playing Captain America: "A 60-year-old Captain America, that'll hurt"

Sam Wilson in a dark room holding shield
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson is back reporting for duty this week in Captain America: Brave New World, but according to the man himself, he thinks he'll only be able to carry the iconic shield for another ten years.

In an interview with Screen Rant, Mackie revealed his math behind keeping the mantle of the shield-chucking hero and believes a decade would just about do it. "The 10 years start on the 14th. That's it. After the 14th I got a 10-year run. I'm not trying to be a 60-year-old Captain America. That'll hurt."

Mackie, 46, officially assumed the role of Captain in the finale of Falcon and the Winter Soldier after Steve handed Sam the shield at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Even then, he was unsure what to make of it, initially predicting that Sam wouldn't make it out of Marvel's massive comic book movie alive.

The new chapter of Sam's career as the star-spangled hero will see him unravel a conspiracy that involves a decorated war hero and the newly appointed president, Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (Harrison Ford). That's not the only threat he'll be facing, either. Joining in on the action is Giancarlo Esposito as Sidewinder, along with Tim Blake Nelson, who will be reprising his role as Samuel Sterns, aka The Leader, after we last saw him in The Incredible Hulk back in 2008.

With such a huge hit list to tackle during his first filmic mission as Cap, Mackie was still enthusiastic about his alter-ego's ability to do this all day, just like his predecessor—most specifically, on the big screen, as opposed to the small. "I think there's something in the idea of Captain America being, people love the nature of these movies, the attitude, the realness, the groundedness of these movies," explained Mackie. "It just works in a cinematic base that I think movies, Captain America deserves to be on the big screen because people love Captain America and that's where they want to see him."

Captain America: Brave New World touches down in theatres on February 14. For every other upcoming MCU chapter, check out our guide to every upcoming Marvel movie and TV show here.

Nick Staniforth
Contributing Writer

Nick is a freelancer whose work can be found at Screen Rant, The Digital Fix, and Looper. He loves movies, TV, DC, and Marvel. He also believes that the best Robin Hood is still a talking fox.