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Why Anthony Mackie Playing Captain America is a Big Deal

It’s the message America needs

Ryan M. Danks

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Photo by Elijah O'Donnell on Unsplash

When Falcon took over for a then-thought-deceased Steve Rogers in the comic books, the fanbase was outraged. Y’know, like fanbases do when change occurs.

Forget the fact that Captain America had died — which should have been a big deal — what people were angry about was that a black man was taking up the shield for the sake of inclusion.

“They’re stealing my childhood,” people yelled.

They must have conveniently forgotten that it wasn’t Falcon who got the shield first; it was Bucky. And no one batted an eye.

Bucky turned out to be a terrible Captain America, too brutal and dark — a rogue pretending to be a paladin. After the shield was taken from Bucky, Falcon was the only logical person to uphold Captain America's values.

The outrage was unfortunate. But I think we’re past that now. I hope we’re past it because the way the MCU handled Steve handing off the shield was inspiring. We need more of that because Anthony Mackie should be playing Captain America.

Here’s why.

It’s good for diversity

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