Avengers star Anthony Mackie has called out Marvel Studio’s lack of diversity in a recent conversation with Hamilton star Daveed Diggs.
Anthony Mackie made his debut as The Falcon in the critically acclaimed Captain America: The Winter Soldier and quickly became a fan favorite. While he didn’t officially appear in an Avengers movie until Infinity War, Mackie’s The Falcon is the first person of color in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who received a substantial starring role. While Mackie has seen Marvel plant the seeds of diversity on screen, he expressed his displeasure with how the crew for most of the Marvel movies he’s worked on have been predominantly white.
Speaking with Daveed Diggs, who currently stars on TNT’s Snowpiercer, on Variety’s virtual Actors on Actors series, the Avengers star called out Marvel’s lack of diversity behind the camera.
“When The Falcon and The Winter Soldier comes out, I’m the lead. When Snowpiercer comes out, you’re the lead. We have 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.”
Anthony Mackie continued by pointing out some of the hypocrisy that likely came out of Black Panther, where the entire cast and crew consisted of people of color.
“But then when you do Black Panther, you have a Black director, Black producer, you have a Black costume designer, you have a Black stunt choreographer. And I’m like, that’s more racist than anything else. Because if you only can hire the Black people for the Black movie, are you saying they’re not good enough when you have a mostly white cast?”
The Avengers star summed up his thoughts by saying that Marvel should, ultimately, hire the best people for the position but at least make an effort to diversify the crew.
“Hire the best person for the job. Even if it means we’re going to get the best two women, we’re going to get the best two men.”
The Avengers star has been with Marvel since 2014 and it’s completely fair for him to point out some of the flaws within the system, especially considering he’ll be spearheading their upcoming The Falcon and The Winter Soldier series for Disney Plus. With much of the conversation in pop and entertainment culture pointing to the lack of diversity, both on and off the screen, it’s great to see an actor the caliber of Anthony Mackie calling out his employer for not putting their money where their mouth it is.
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Here’s the official synopsis for the Marvel Studios epic Avengers: Endgame:
The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios’ grand conclusion to twenty-two films, “Avengers: Endgame.”
Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo from a script written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin.
Avengers: Endgame is now available on Digital HD, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD. Stay tuned for all the latest news on Anthony Mackie and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more video content.
Source: Variety
