Anthony Mackie will take the lead in Captain America 4. Per Deadline, the star of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has reportedly closed a deal to carry the shield in the next Captain America movie for Marvel Studios. Kevin Feige is said to be keeping the details tightly under wraps and it's unclear at this time if Mackie's Falcon co-star Sebastian Stan will also be featured in the movie as Bucky Barnes.

The project is officially untitled, but as the fourth Captain America movie, everyone's just calling it Captain America 4 at this time. There were previously rumors that Chris Evans would return as Steve Rogers for another solo movie in the role, but the actor appeared to shoot them down in response. Given the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it seemed more likely Anthony Mackie would be starring in Captain America 4, but the news hadn't yet been made official.

Captain America 4 is reportedly being written by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier head writer and creator Malcolm Spellman alongside series staff writer Dalan Musson. A director hasn't yet been named, nor have any other cast members been announced beyond Mackie's attachment. It's also unclear when Marvel Studios will shoot the movie or when it will tentatively be released. Soon after it was announced that Captain America 4 was in the works, Mackie said he was "excited" to see what happens with the movie, noting he hadn't personally heard a thing.

"I literally found out yesterday in a grocery store," Mackie told Entertainment Weekly at the time. "The checkout guy named Dwayne, a cool cat, he's like, 'Yo, man. Is this real?!" [holds up a cellphone]. I'm like, 'I haven't heard anything.' That's what I love about working for Marvel. They call you, they're like, 'Come to L.A. We wanna tell you what's going on.' So, I'm excited to see what happens, but I haven't heard anything."

Of starting his journey in the MCU to becoming the new Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Mackie added: "It's the same people I've been working with on these movies for eight years now. So to go from my first day to now becoming Cap with the same people was really special. Everybody shared in it, from the props team to wardrobe, from the camera department to the people in the office. It was really a collective effort."

There are still persistent rumors that Chris Evans will reprise his role as Steve Rogers in a separate Captain America movie. Nothing else is known about that rumored project other than that it could be developed separately from Captain America 4 with Mackie. In any case, Evans insists that he doesn't know anything about it. Responding directly to the rumors in January, Evans wrote in a tweet, "News to me."

There's no word yet on when Captain America 4 will be released, but if the cast are now locking down deals to star, production can't be too far off. Until we see Sam Wilson wielding the shield in the upcoming sequel, fans can check him out in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+. This news comes to us from Deadline.