While speaking with Inverse, the Captain America 4 star said he initially shared his desire to become the Black Panther, played by the late Chadwick Boseman, with the studio roughly four years before debuting as Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. “I had been contacting Marvel a lot about Black Panther,” he told the outlet. “I had written them letters. I was trying to find a way to make them make Black Panther. And I wanted to be Black Panther because growing up I f--ing loved Black Panther.” Eventually,, directors Joe Russo and Anthony Russo gave Mackie, though they kept it classified for some time after their meeting.

The We Have a Ghost star told the publication, “I’ll never forget, Joe Russo said, ‘Listen, so we’re doing this movie. We want you to be in it. We can’t say what character you’re playing or who else is going to be in it. Would you do it?’ He added, "And that was it. I was like, ‘You know what, I like y’all dudes. I’ll do it. I’ll go on this ride with you.’” Mackie’s character has since appeared in six Marvel films in the 2010s before earning a leading role in the 2021 Disney+ miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The actor is set to star in  Captain America: Brave New World which is expected to arrive in theaters July 26, 2024.