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There is a lot of pressure when it comes to portraying a character like Captain America. Not only is he one of the most iconic Marvel comic book characters, but his name alone brings certain expectations. Some people expect Captain America to be the embodiment of patriotism and dedication to America while others see him representing the aspirational ideals of the nation rather than the literal country and its government. Anthony Mackie, the latest actor to play Captain America in the MCU, has found himself caught between these two interpretations of the character, forcing him to walk back some comments he made while promoting Captain America: Brave New World.

It all comes from comments that Anthony Mackie gave while talking about Captain America: Brave New World in Italy. “To me, Captain America represents a lot of different things and I don’t think the term ‘America’ should be one of those representations. It’s about a man who keeps his word, who has honor, dignity, and integrity. Someone who is trustworthy and dependable.”

These comments don’t represent a particularly harsh criticism of America, but they do show Mackie as someone with a good understanding of Captain America’s history. Throughout his history, Cap has always strived to embody the ideal of America while being unafraid to offer criticism of the nation’s actions. He is a man who became so disenchanted with America that he cast off his usual mantle and became The Nomad. Anthony Mackie gets that. I respect the actor more for it, especially since a clip of his comments is still up on his social media page as of Wednesday morning.

Still, the heat that Mackie got was enough that he took to social media to his statement back. He posted an Instagram story on Tuesday that was an attempt to diffuse the situation. “Let me be clear about this, I’m a proud American and taking on the shield of a hero like CAP is the honor of a lifetime. I have the utmost respect for those who serve and have served our country. CAP has universal characteristics that people all over the world can relate to.”

This sounds like Mackie was told by Marvel to distance himself from his – again, very reasonable – comments as Captain America: Brave New World is gearing up for its release next month. However, a movie like this, where a black actor is picking up the mantle of a stereotypically white hero, was always going to be a lightning rod for this kind of online activity. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be impacting the box office projections of the latest MCU offering.

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters