'Spider-Man: Far From Home' Almost Showed Falcon As The New Captain America

We haven't seen him in action in the role yet, but Avengers: Endgame established that Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson/Falcon is the new Captain America. While we may have to wait some time before we see him suit up, we could've seen Falcon taking up the shield much sooner. As in, a few days from now when Spider-Man: Far From Home opens.

A new interview reveals there was talk of including the new Captain America in Far From Home, but the idea was ultimately nixed. On top of that, Mackie himself states that long before he became Falcon, he auditioned for a very different Marvel Cinematic Universe role.

Welcome to your one-stop spot for Anthony Mackie news! First: in an interview with ComicBook.com, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and creative executive Eric Carroll revealed that Mackie's Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, almost popped-up in Spider-Man: Far From Home. 

"We briefly talked about bringing in Falcon as Captain America at the end, like maybe once Peter's arced, and he's sort of like leading the team, like maybe he calls in a favor," Carroll said. "But we also thought it was really important to the arc of this movie that there not be other Avengers available to Nick Fury or Peter, so he'd have to step up and do it himself."

Feige added: "Ultimately, Spider-Man: Far From Home is Spider-Man's journey, whether any other heroes appear in it or not. "It's all about Peter stepping up. And Peter getting out of the shadow, not just of Tony but of the Avengers in general. Because by the way, he's Spider-Man. He doesn't need to be in the shadow of the Avengers. So other than Maria, and Nick, and Happy, and the emotional presence of Tony... You hear, he asks about Thor. He asks about Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel."

Feige and Carroll add that the idea of Falcon-Cap popping-up in the film came very early in the development process, and was likely abandoned before the concept was floated by director Jon Watts.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Men's Health, Mackie drops a surprise of his own. The actor says that before he joined the MCU as Sam Wilson, he auditioned to play The Mandarin in Iron Man 3:

Mackie's original Marvel audition was for Iron Man 3's villainous Mandarin. That role went to Ben Kingsley, but his screen test led to a lunch with the company's creative brokers, including Joe Russo and producer Nate Moore, about starring in Winter Soldier.

I have no idea how things would've turned out had Mackie played the Mandarin, but it's probably for the best that he didn't land that role. Because now, instead of appearing in one film and never popping up in the MCU again, Mackie gets to take on the iconic role of Captain America.