‘Captain America’ Star Anthony Mackie Didn’t Know The Falcon Was An Avenger Until The ‘Age Of Ultron’ Premiere

Captain America star Anthony Mackie had a small part to play in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but as he sat down to watch the premiere, he had had no idea his character, Falcon, was rising to full-fledged Avenger stardom.

At the end of Age of Ultron, the original superhero line-up went their separate ways, which left Scarlett Witch, War Machine, Vision, and Falcon to fill in the teams open roster. During the final scene, the new members assembled for the first time, and it blew Anthony Mackie’ socks off.

“HOLY S***! I’M AN AVENGER!” Mackie said according to Super Hero Hype during a visit to the set of Captain America: Civil War about learning for the first time his character was an Avenger.

Mackie went on to explain to Cinema Blend how he was clueless about the big promotion.

“They never send you the whole script, you know? When they asked me to do Avengers, they sent me two scenes. There was 2 hours and 7 minutes around those two scenes, but I never got to read it. So, you know, when we were at the premiere, I was like, ‘Oh cool.’ I’m with my son. ‘You get to see daddy in these two scenes in The Avengers.’ Then, by the end of the movie, I turn around and they’re like, ‘Avengers assembled.’ I’m like, ‘Holy s**t! I’m an Avenger!’ And I was like, ‘Wha….’ So, I turned around to everybody with me and they’re like, ‘Dude, you’re a f**king Avenger!’ This is f**king amazing. So, that was, that’s the story of my Marvel life.”

Mackie also described the scene he filmed with Chris Evans (Captain America) and Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), where he didn’t see the scene’s bigger picture.

“I flew in, you know, every time, Chris and Scarlett are up top and the rest of us are standing there. So, it was like, ‘Cut, Anthony fly in.’ I fly in. ‘Action,’ hmm, hmm, hmm. ‘Cut, fly in. Alright, thanks.’ That was pretty much it. So, you know, six months later you go to a premiere and you shit yourself, you know, because everybody was like, ‘Why are you so excited?’ ‘I just found out I’m an Avenger.'”

While Mackie was oblivious about his character’s Avenger status, Movie Pilot reports that with Civil War, the actor is just as clueless.

Apparently, filming Age of Ultron was similar to Civil War, with Mackie’s character flying in for different scenes but otherwise not knowing how everything will unfold. This has left him with a certain level of blissful ignorance when it comes to Civil War and it’s ending.

Comic Book also adds that Mackie’s presence in Civil War has been a purposeful build up from his part in Winter Soldier, Age of Ultron, and his cameo in Ant-Man. Now, with Civil War on the horizon, his character is well-known and established, so nobody questions who the flying guy is and instead get to see Falcon come into his own as his relationship between everyone grows.

As for Mackie, his rise to Avenger isn’t by luck. His first starring role was way back in 2005 in the movie We Are Marshall. His other more recent films include Triple 9, Love the Coopers, and Our Brand is Crisis.

And now his biggest accomplishment is gaining superhero status as Falcon, which, according to Huntington News, will make Mackie the second African-American Marvel superhero, right behind Black Panther.

Adding to the real-life icons that Mackie has portrayed (Nate Ruffin in We Are Marshall), he will also play the role of Martin Luther King Jr. in the 2016 TV movie All the Way.

To see Anthony Mackie in his latest film, make sure to watch Captain America: Civil War when it hits theaters May 6, 2016.

Tell us! Are you going to check out Chris Evans and Anthony Mackie in Captain America: Civil War? Let us know in the comments, and check out the all of the trailers and clips below.

[Image via Marvel Studios]