Anthony Mackie on coming “full circle” with fourth ‘Captain America’ film, and how Harrison Ford tongue-tied him

While his Marvel character Sam Wilson struggled with the weight of taking the Captain America mantle, Anthony Mackie called it “really easy.”

In a chat with TheWrap before the SAG-AFTRA strike, the Twisted Metal star talked about the forthcoming Captain America: Brave New World, his first solo film succeeding Chris Evans‘ Steve Rogers as the spangly hero.

“It kind of brought my Marvel experience full circle because we shot in D.C. at the same hotel that we shot Winter Soldier at,” Mackie said of his first Marvel movie from 2016. “So in that regard, it was really emotional to think how far my character has come and where he is now after the 10 years that I’ve been in the MCU.”

The actor explained, “These Marvel movies have kind of turned into summer camp. You go to set and there’s people that you’ve known for 10, 12 years now that you’ve worked with and got to know…So it’s like going back to see your old friends. So it was really easy.”

There was, however, one hiccup: getting over his nerves when acting opposite Harrison Ford, who plays President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross.

“Harrison was the f****** man, dude,” Mackie gushed, adding, “I was surprised how light-hearted and easy he was, how excited he was to be a part of it.”

Still, the actor admits, “I had this monologue and I just couldn’t get it right. I’m like, ‘I’m talking to Harrison Ford. This is crazy.'”

Mackie added, “But once we got our legs on us and we were like, ‘Oh, Harrison is just a cool dude,’ it made those scenes much easier.”

Captain America: Brave New World is scheduled for a July 26, 2024, release from Marvel Studios, which is owned by ABC News’ parent company Disney.