Is Anthony Mackie's Hollywood Death Because of Captain America

It’s been six years since the shield was laid down and we saw Captain America hand over the torch to a new hero, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). Since that time, we’ve seen Captain America and the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) in action in a series on Disney Plus. The series received a lukewarm reception from some critics and fans.

Now, as we fans eagerly anticipate the release of Captain America: Brave New World, we also await the Hollywood death of Anthony Mackie. The failure of a Marvel movie can kill a career.

The movie, which also stars Hollywood Icon Harrison Ford as now President Ross, has already undergone reshoots after lukewarm test reviews. It’s release has been pushed and pushed. People familiar with movies and the trends were probably surprised to see a Marvel Cinematic Universe release scheduled for February 2025.

January and February are traditionally a period when movies are sent to die.

After the additional funding, reshoots, and cuts of parts such as the rumored cutting of Seth Rollins (WWE Superstar) from the movie, the studio and cast put much effort into getting Captain America: Brave New World right.

Last week, it was reported that there were two different cuts of the film test screened. Leaks and Rumors on Reddit may have the details of one of the cuts, although be warned before you check it out, it could spoil the movie.

With trailers coming out this summer that garnered a lot of fan buzz, and additional reshoots this summer, the less than surprising news is that both cuts at the screens may have bombed. After filming was concluded in 2023 and an original release date of July 2024, Marvel’s been scrambling to save the Captain America portion of the juggernaut franchise.

New writers have been brought in to pen reshoots, and a booming budget of 350 Million has been spent. Yet, it may turn into one of Marvel’s biggest trainwrecks to date, threatening the plans of guys and comic book enthusiasts on February 14th.

Will this be the death toll for Anthony Mackie in Hollywood? Many times actor's careers are doomed to suffer when a movie bombs.

It’s likely nothing Anthony Mackie did or didn’t do, but the career of an actor can take a big hit when they’re connected to big box office failures. Arnold Swarzenneger had Last Action Hero and his career took a nose dive for some time. Harrison Ford still has a stain on his legacy in Hollywood from the most recent Indiana Jones movie. Taylor Kitsch starred in some entertaining movies, but their performance killed his upward mobility in Hollywood for many years.

What will Marvel’s studio executives do based on the news of the test screenings bombing? That’s unknown at this point. We’ll have to wait and see if they leave it on the February schedule, or box it and take a write-off as their parent company, Disney has taken some serious losses in the theaters since Avengers Endgame and the disbanding of the Avengers OGs, after Robert Downy Jr., Chris Evans, and Scarlett Johannsen officially left the fold.

Captain America: Brave New World’s trailers look good, but the screenings have been called inessential and flat according to one report.

So, who is going to take the biggest hit? After recent rounds of the executives blaming the fans, we're going to hear many excuses for this if it fails.

Or, are fans burned out on the big blockbusters and Disney driving everything they can without focusing on quality? Some of their recent failures fall under that category.

Hopefully, Anthony Mackie doesn't suffer the slow Hollywood death that has come with being attached to such bombs if they don't make this work. He was fun to watch and his Captain America was a new and fresh take on the character. Many fans wanted to see more of him in the iconic role. I guess we'll see what happens.