Anthony Mackie Hated a Huge Part of His Falcon and the Winter Soldier Cap Costume

When you’re playing a well-established superhero, certain parts of the super-suit are set in stone. But while the shield is always going to be part of Captain America‘s get-up, turns out there’s some wiggle room for parts of the costume that the star wearing it—in this case, Anthony Mackie in Captain America: Brave New World—can say “Absolutely not” to.

And this wasn’t an arbitrary request to change something. Mackie had worn the offending suit for Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and he was not about to don it again for the big screen in Brave New World. His exact words, as you can see below in IGN’s interview, were “I told them I was never wearing that shit again, dude,” specifically referencing the white cowl that was part of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier-era ensemble.

“I told them I was never wearing that s**t again,” said Captain America: Brave New World’s Anthony Mackie of the white cowl that was introduced in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. pic.twitter.com/GvjCaKARaM

— IGN (@IGN) February 7, 2025

“That was hard,” Mackie continued. “It was—with the heat, the sweat, the fogged-up glasses, it was impossible. It was called a ‘cowl’… it was my worst nightmare. You can’t do anything.”

It’s totally understandable on Mackie’s part, but it’s interesting and almost kind of a shame that the cowl was one really unique element of Sam’s Captain America suit that was translated from the comics into live action. You can see why it wouldn’t work in live action in a way that it’s much easier to just draw into a comic book design—at least Marvel tried, even if it ultimately didn’t make it something Mackie could tolerate wearing any more.

Captain America: Brave New World, featuring a snappy new suit with no cowl, hits theaters February 14.

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