Anthony Mackie Confirms Falcon & Winter Soldier Cost 100s Of Millions Of Dollars

Anthony Mackie has confirmed that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has a budget in the hundreds of millions. The highly anticipated new MCU show picks up the narrative of Mackie’s Falcon and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky following the events of Avengers: Endgame. With the premiere on Disney+ in just under a month, the marketing campaign is in full swing.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was originally scheduled to be the first in the slate of Disney+ Marvel shows but, because of production delays, WandaVision ultimately aired first. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will now have its debut two weeks after WandaVision wraps up, which has set the bar high with positive reception from both viewers and critics. The new show reportedly has six hours’ worth of material and will spend the season exploring who will officially take up the Captain America mantle. The answer to that may have seemed clear after Steve Rogers passed his shield to Sam at the end of Avengers: Endgame, but Mackie has since commented that Falcon didn’t fully agree to be the successor.

Mackie recently spoke to Desus & Mero (via Comicbook) about his upcoming projects and commented on the atmosphere of huge Marvel sets. He explained that although a set like the one for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is as big as they get, there are also tight-knit communities within the 250+ person team. He illustrates just how close some of the team is when he mentions that he’s known someone from the props department for fourteen years. Mackie said:

“When we were shooting The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in Prague, that’s as big of a production as you can get […] hundreds of millions of dollars. But, at the same time, there’s a certain disconnect because there’s so many people there. 250 people a day on-set that you form these little pods, these little communities […] With Marvel it’s tight-knit. I’ve known our prop guy for 14 years now. We’ve watched each other’s kids grow up. So, it’s very close.”

Mackie initially stated that he was worried about the show when he first heard it was streaming and that it could falter with the action sequences or simply not live up to the intensity of the movies. However, he has since confirmed that the show will not disappoint and that he’s excited for people to see it. Knowing that the show’s budget is on par with some of the franchise’s films, Mackie certainly had nothing to worry about. The marketing will most likely ramp up even more in the coming weeks, following a trailer that was released during Super Bowl LV.

With more and more streaming platforms, along with the coronavirus pandemic forcing theatrical releases onto the small screen, the line between cinema and television continues to be blurred. Marvel is once again on the forefront of this industry shift with other shows such as Loki, What If…?, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, and more also in the works. Judging by the success of Wandavision and the impressive budget of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the new show surely will not disappoint.