Anthony Mackie’s Marvel Criticisms Are To Make The MCU Better

Marvel Cinematic Universe star Anthony Mackie says his Marvel movie diversity criticisms were made to make the MCU better in that area. Debuting in the franchise via Joe and Anthony Russo's Captain America: The Winter Soldier from 2015, the actor has played the role of Sam Wilson/Falcon for more than five years now. However, he still has a long way ahead in the universe as he becomes the next Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

As Mackie assumes the important role of Captain America in the franchise, he joins Chadwick Boseman who plays Black Panther as the only two Black actors who spearhead their own MCU projects. While the actor is grateful for the opportunity given to him by being part of the most popular franchise in the world, he's also vocal about the issues it has, especially with regard to representation both on and off-screen. Amidst protests for the Black Lives Matter movement, Mackie criticized Marvel Studios' lack of diversity.

Now, he adds more context to his original comment, explaining that the issue in the MCU isn't due to racism, but mainly their failure to be proactive in making their projects representative of the real world in a recent interview with Fatherly. Regardless, Mackie reiterates that Marvel Studios needs to have a more conscious effort in bringing people of color whether that be actors or people working behind-the-scenes.

I’ll say this: I don’t think what’s happening is a racism problem. I think it’s an unawareness problem. With Marvel, I really think with most companies, they feel like they’re doing what they should be doing. In no way, shape, or form, is it enough. My big thing is, put your money where your mouth is. You can’t cast a Black dude as one of your main superheroes and not expect him to have that conversation. It’s just in my DNA to have that conversation. It’s a huge opportunity for me to be part of the Marvel universe so it’s my job to make sure the Marvel universe is as good as it can be.

Anyone who’s big in our industry, if they have a party at their house, their party is 98 percent white. If you go to their office and their office is 98 percent white, that reflects their reality.

Image of full cast of Marvel Cinematic Universe

Mackie's criticism of the MCU doesn't come from a bad place. Instead, he simply took it upon himself to highlight these issues so that Marvel can re-examine their commitment to diversity and do something about these glaring problems. As he pointed out, a studio can't bring in a Black actor and not have these types of conversations especially when there are obvious diversity issues in their projects and overall production. While there are no known racist issues in the franchise, there's also a lack of effort to make their stories representative of the diversity in the real world.

If anything, comments like this from actors or anyone who has the platform to be an agent of change are needed so that companies can address workspace issues not just in terms of diversity, but also in other matters as well. This is particularly important in the Marvel Cinematic Universe considering that it's the biggest, most popular film franchise around the world, and with that, comes the responsibility to be an industry example when it comes to representation in film and cinema.

More: Avengers: Infinity War - Why Thanos Had To SNAP To Use The Gauntlet

Source: Fatherly