Anthony Mackie reveals Old Man Cap in Avengers: Endgame wasn’t meant to be a VFX-ified Chris Evans

Old Man Cap at the end of Avengers: Endgame wasn’t originally supposed to be a prosthetic-upped version of Chris Evans.

In an interview on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show (shown below), Anthony Mackie shared some tidbits from his work in the MCU, including the original plan for the scene he had with a very old Steve Rogers at the end of Endgame. 

“They actually wanted to cast an old dude to play Chris Evans,” Mackie told Jess Cagle and his co-host Julia Cunningham. “So they brought in like three actors. They're like...this isn't how Chris will look when he's old. He’s like George Clooney — he's going to be 95 and still like handsome, you know? So they brought in a makeup team and made him into an old man. And how good of an actor Chris is, it actually worked. He pulled it off with his voice and everything. He did a great job.”

Mackie also confirmed that Old Man Cap sitting on the bench was the plan from the get-go, and not a decision that was made later on because it would take a lot more special effects to make Chris Evans look old if he was standing up. “It was agreed upon from jump that he would be sitting on a bench,” Mackie said. “Being an old man, he got to take his rest when he came.”

Interested in seeing the conversation yourself? You can check it out here:

Mackie also chatted a little bit about his upcoming Disney+ series, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, where he reprises his MCU role of Sam Wilson (aka Falcon), who — along with Bucky Barnes (aka Winter Soldier, played by Sebastian Stan) — sets off for a global adventure. The series will also likely show whether someone else will become the next Captain America.

Who the next Captain America will be is not confirmed, although many think Mackie will take up the role. Mackie, however, remains coy on whether Falcon will take up Steve’s mantle.

“At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Cap decided he was going into retirement and he asked me if I would take up the shield,” Mackie tells Cagle. “But at no point in time did I agree to or say that I would be Captain America. So the show walks the line of who is going to take up the shield and who's going to be Captain America if Steve isn't coming back.”

The first episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier will premiere Mar. 19 on on Disney+.