Despite the awe-inspiring box office power of "The Avengers," Chris Evans can't be Captain America forever.
Right now, the actor is slated to appear in six total films for the Marvel Cinematic Universe - three "Captain America" films and three "Avengers" films. After that, his future is up in the air. This, naturally, has led to talk about possible replacements for the actor once he's outgrown the Marvel world.
Right now, there are two clear candidates - Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan. Both actors featured prominently in this year's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Mackie as the superhero The Falcon, who flies with a mechanized pair of wings, and Stan as the war hero-turned-assassin The Winter Soldier, who is one of the film's primary antagonists.
In Marvel Comics, Stan's character, real name Bucky Barnes, actually succeeded the character of Steve Rogers as Captain America for a period of three years. Because of this, Stan seemed like a clear front-runner to take on the Captain America role in future films. Add on Stan's contract with Marvel- which includes nine total pictures, of which he has filmed two- and it seems extremely likely that Stan is Marvel's top pick for the role.
However, a new story may put Mackie ahead. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Comics will be replacing the comic book version of Captain America with another character, for the second time. As of now, it's not clear what character will be picking up Rogers' famous stars-and-stripes shield, but speculation has it that The Falcon will be the hero to do so.
If so, Mackie's claim to the Captain America throne becomes just as legitimate as Stan's. More so, considering that Marvel's decision to make The Falcon into Captain America right now would hint that they're planning to do the same in another medium very soon.
For what it's worth, Mackie has also signed on for a surplus of Marvel films, although the exact quantity is not known. In an interview with Vulture, he stated, "I was willing to go as far as they would let me, in whatever capacity they wanted to retain me. I signed up for, like, 50 movies."
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