‘Captain America’ Star Anthony Mackie Reveals The Biggest Problem With The Marvel Cinematic Universe

"There's only so much creativity you can bring to the table..."

‘Captain America’ Star Anthony Mackie Reveals The Biggest Problem With The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Image: Walt Disney / Marvel Entertainment - Marvel Studios

Anthony Mackie may have starred in six Marvel movies and in his own television series as the Avenger, Falcon, but the American movie star has said that one of the hardest things with the Marvel Cinematic Universe is “there’s only so much creativity you can bring to the table.”


During a recent UK press tour to promote the release of Twisted Metal, Anthony Mackie revealed that he enjoyed having more creative freedom to explore his character in the video game adaptation, than in his previous starring role.

Athony Mackie stars as John Doe, a post-apoloyptic milkman who’s tasked with travelling across the country in Evelyn, his pimped out car, to deliver a mysterious package. It’s here that he encounters bandits, murderers and thieves all vying for survival in the American wasteland.

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The Stan series, which is an adaptation of the celebrated PlayStation game of the same name, doesn’t exaclty have a lengthy script or storyline to interpret. Instead, series producers have been able to create a new and exciting story within an already familiar world…

Mackie has compared the experience to his MCU character Falcon, saying although Marvel creator Stan Lee spent a lifetime creating a rich and layered superworld, that one of the biggest problems with the MCU was the storytelling was restricted as it had to exist within the borders of the exisiting material.

“I would say the Marvel thing is completely different, just because it’s such a space of controlled entertainment. Like, there’s only so much you can do. There’s only so much creativity you can bring to the table, because Stan Lee gave us so much content,” Mackie told Radio Times.

“And that’s the hard thing about the Marvel universe. It’s like, you can’t really go outside of the lines of those comic books. You know, when we introduced the Falcon, and the growth of the Falcon to Captain America, all of that had to coincide with what Stan [Lee] had already gave us. So it’s an interesting juggle to be a part of that world. And this [Twister Metal] was more like, ‘Let’s just have fun and figure it out as we go.'”

Image: Peacock

Of course when you have a library of material that spans the last six decades, it’s more than likely that the characters have been placed in a number of exciting adventures worthy of the big screen, but Mackie speaks to one of the problems facing the extended MCU as it looks to navigate the next chapter of the franchise.