The actor cast as Captain America has said the Marvel superhero should not represent America, suggesting the character is associated with a series of positive values that America does not represent. “For me, Captain America represents a lot of different things, and I don’t think the term, you know, ‘America,’ should be one of those representations,” Anthony Mackie said at a Captain America: Brave New World press event in Rome, Italy, on Monday, January 27.
The 46-year-old drunk driver explained that Captain America is “a man who keeps his word, who has honor, dignity, and integrity, someone who is trustworthy and dependable”—implying ‘America’ is not synonymous with these values.
The Captain America character was created in 1941 as a supersoldier who battled Nazi villains. Modern writers previously attempted to deconstruct the iconic American hero, traditionally portrayed as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed white man, in 2017, by making him a Nazi double agent himself. However, this version of the character was later revealed to be from an alternate universe, with the original version eventually restored.
Meanwhile, many white comic book characters have been “blackwashed” for the big screen in recent years, including one iteration of The Flash, Mary Jane Watson, and even Heimdall, who is supposed to be based on a Norse god.
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