Anthony Mackie Calls Out Marvel's Lack of Diversity and Explains the Racism Behind 'Black Panther'

Anthony Mackie made his first appearance as Sam Wilson in the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier and after co-starring in a host of other Marvel films, he is set to once again reprise his role in the upcoming Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Considering how much time the actor has spent as Falcon, it's fair to say he knows his way around a Marvel set, and he says the studio needs to do better when it comes to creating a diverse work environment.

As reported by E! News, Mackie recently spoke with Hamilton star Daveed Diggs forVariety's Actors on Actors video series, where he opened up about his disappointment with Marvel's lack of diversity. "It really bothered me that I've done seven Marvel movies where every producer, every director, every stunt person, every costume designer, every PA, every single person has been white," he stated.

"We've had one Black producer; his name was Nate Moore," Mackie continued. "He produced Black Panther. But then when you do Black Panther, you have a Black director, Black producer, a Black costume designer, a Black stunt choreographer. I'm like, that's more racist than anything else. Because if you only can hire the Black people for the Black movie, are you saying they're not good enough when you have a mostly white cast?"

"My big push with Marvel is hire the best person for the job," Mackie added, explaining that he wants to help, "build a new generation of people who can put something on their resumé to get them other jobs."

Hopefully Mackie's thoughts will be taken seriously by executives at Marvel and the studio can put the effort in to create a more positive and diverse work environment.