Anthony Mackie To Play "Falcon" In Captain America 2 Movie

The amount of African American superheroes who have graced the silver screen are far and few in-between.

You have Meteor Man, you have Blade, you can even qualify Shaft as sort of a "Black superhero," but now, Anthony Mackie is the latest actor selected to break that barrier. The 33-year-old thespian will be playing the role of Falcon in the upcoming Marvel actioner, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier, a fact confirmed by its titular star Chris Evans in a recent MTV interview. Evans also praised Mackie's personality and talent in the interview, saying, "I love that guy. I'm really happy we got him. We got lucky."

So, if you're expecting Falcon to be straight out of a Robot Chicken episode, sorry to have disappointed you.

The world's "First African-American superhero," as dubbed by creator Stan Lee, audiences will be amazed to see Falcon's several superpowers unfold on the big screen. This includes the ability to fly and see through the eyes of birds. No one is sure how much screen time the Falcon will receive, as the tale, which is tentatively titled "Winter Soldier," will go back in time to focus on Steve Rogers and his sidekick "Bucky".

The blockbuster will certainly provide Mackie with a huge leg up to leading man potential given its predecessors success on the box office. Nerds and cinephiles should expect to see Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier in theaters sometime in April 2014.

Props: Shadow & Act