Anthony Mackie is currently busy working on the Twisted Metal TV series, but Captain America: New World Order is probably next on his list. The movie’s director has revealed that he and the team are already well into pre-production, meaning the movie will likely start filming early next year. Many details about Marvel Studio’s upcoming movie slate were revealed at Disney’s D23 Expo last weekend, and Mackie’s first run-out as Captain America was among the reveals. Director Julius Onah has recently discussed working on the next generation of the Avenger in an interview with Collider. He said:

"We’re already quite busy, putting everything together. As you know with these films, there are so many elements, between the cast and the script and the effects and the stunts. It’s really exciting to be really diving deep into it."

While it seemed like a given that Anthony Mackie would be getting his own movie as Captain America, the reveal was not made until April 2021, and the movie’s title and place in the upcoming Marvel slate were announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2022. This past weekend, it was announced that Tim Blake Nelson will be reprising his role as Samuel Sterns/The Leader, who was last seen in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. Similar to the reintroduction of Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/Abomination, Nelson’s return is another connection in the MCU to the early Marvel movie.

Related: Captain America 4 Director Discusses Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson Taking on Leadership Role

Anthony Mackie’s Captain America Journey Will Be 'An Incredible Ride'

Falcon and the Winter Soldier Sam
Marvel Studios 

Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Sam Wilson was always going to become the MCU’s new Captain America, but Sam had to go on a personal journey in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier to realize that Steve Rogers was right to hand over the shield to him and he was America’s next hero.

Now, Captain America: New World Order will see Mackie take the helm for the first time in the guise of Captain America, and director Onah previously commented on the challenges the character will be facing in his first big-screen adventure. He said:

"It's going to be a really, really incredible ride. It's a paranoid thriller with Sam [Wilson] at the center of it, and he is now in this position where he is a leader and he has to deal with that challenge of what it means to lead a group of people that he really cares about. For Sam, beforehand, he was part of a team, but now to be at the head of a team is a new set of challenges, so his journey in this film is really about that."

Having been part of the MCU from the start, appearing first in Captain America: The First Avenger, it has been fitting for the character of Sam to take over the mantle of his long-term friend. While some believed that it should be the Winter Soldier, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, who should have inherited the Captain America tag, there are many reasons why that wouldn’t happen, one of those being his involvement in the Thunderbolts line-up with the likes of Red Guardian, Ghost and US Agent.

We will get to see Sam taking on his Captain America responsibilities in Captain America: New World Order when the movie is released on May 3, 2024.