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Anthony Mackie Speaks Playing "First African American Superhero" In 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'

Posted byBy Stan Castle | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

Coming off the success of The Avengers, Marvel is gearing up to unleash its second Phase sequence of films. The company will introduce a few new characters and one of them is Anthony Mackie’s character from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Falcon.

In a recent interview, Mackie took time out and spoke about the honor it is play Marvel’s first African-American superhero.

“I’m playing the Falcon,” he said. “He’s this guy in Harlem who moved to California and became a drug dealer. His plane crashed, and he was genetically altered, and he can fly, has telepathic powers.”

“He’s the first African-American superhero,” he continued. “It makes me feel all the work I’ve done has been paying off. I have a son, nephews and nieces, and I love the idea that they can dress up as the Falcon on Halloween. They now have someone they can idolize. That’s a huge honor for me.”

Falcon/Sam Wilson was created by comic legend Stan Lee in 1969. He made his first appearance in Captain America issue #117 and was Marvel’s first African American superhero. Wilson was a Harlem social worker who has the ability to telepathically communicate with birds. While in his power-enhanced costume, he manages to soar along-side of Captain America with a flight harness he created.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier hit theaters on April 4, 2014.

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