‘I’m a proud American’: Anthony Mackie explains controversial Captain America comments, but he’s not apologizing

Anthony Mackie has awoken the Marvel mob. In a recent Q&A, the actor made waves within the fandom (and not in a good way) when he said his on-screen character, Captain America, doesn’t represent America. Now Mackie has released a statement trying to explain himself.

Posting to his Instagram, Mackie attempted some damage control prior to the release of Captain America: Brave New World, which is due to hit theaters on Valentine’s Day. He clarified that he is “a proud American” and that he has the “utmost respect for those who serve and have served our country.” Anthony finished his paragraph by saying that “CAP has universal characteristics that people all over the world can relate to.” Knowing the specific crowd that he has upset, it’s doubtful whether this will be enough to quell their anger, especially considering it’s not an outright apology.

The comments underneath most of his recent Instagram posts are still filled with angry fans calling him “woke” and predicting that the movie would bomb thanks to him. In reality, Brave New World probably is going to bomb, but not because of Mackie; Marvel just seems to have forgotten how to make good movies and the billion re-shoots this movie went through certainly won’t have helped. It’s extremely doubtful that his comments would really make or break the movie, but it will be a convenient scapegoat for all those fans who blame “wokeness” for Marvel’s recent downfall.

Mackie’s initial statement really did rock the boat, though, and so close to the release of the movie, too. It’s no wonder he’s on damage control. Over on X, people called for boycotts of the movie and others wrote that they wanted to see Bucky as the new Captain America, but amidst this entire controversy, it’s becoming more and more obvious that Mackie’s words really weren’t that far from the truth.

Anthony’s statement proves that this was all blown out of proportion

Was what he said really that bad? Mackie’s Instagram story simply reiterates a point that seems to have been lost during the original Q&A. It seems what he was trying to say was that Captain America stands for something more than his country: he’s a character that people from all over the world can look up to.

Those calling out Mackie online right now don’t seem to understand that Captain America isn’t some tool, mindlessly waving the American flag and blindly ing the U.S. regardless of whether it’s right or wrong; however, that’s all these people complaining about the situation online seem to think he is. Sure, Mackie’s phrasing was a little clunky, but he has a point, and so it’s unlikely he’s going to bow down to the angry mob and apologize. I don’t think he should anyway.