Anthony Mackie talks Falcon's role in 'Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier' and possibly confirms sequels?

Anthony Mackie will portray Sam Wilson, better known as Falcon, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. His character serves as an ally for Captain America (Chris Evans), who does not really connect with anyone outside of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The actor spoke to Total Film (via Comic Book Movie) and said his code name, The Falcon, comes from the character's experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The Air Force had a specialty group, like the Navy SEALs," Mackie said. "But instead of giving them the ability to quietly go in and maneuver through hazardous territories, they gave them the ability to fly...It's a lot of me on wires screaming and them saying 'Action' and me flying around. ...I'm deathly afraid of heights, they always say, 'Oh, we're just gonna take you this high.' Then they take me and swing me." 

He also told a story of a somewhat frightening experience he had during filming and a conversation with directors Anthony and Joe Russ:.

"When we were in Cleveland, the Russos called me and said, 'Alright, we're gonna put you up on a bridge and we want you to jump down. You see you're about to hit a car, so we want you to stop before you hit the car.' I'm like, 'Well, the cable guy is supposed to stop me, because these aren't real wings.' They're like, 'No, no, no. Just hit the ground and go to the car.' So they pull me up and they let me go. In midair I realized, 'I've never flown before. So I have no idea how to stop.' I see the concrete coming towards me, and I realize the rope is gonna catch and I'm gonna swing head first into this car. So I put my feet down and I roll into this cab, hard, and everybody runs over to me and says, 'Are you okay?' I'm like, 'I think I know how to land. Let's do it again.'" 

Finally, Mackie talked about his costume and seemingly confirmed his appearance in future sequels:

"It's 10 times tougher performing with wings. I'm like, 'Wait, I'm the only dude that's on strings? Everybody else gets to walk around or drive cars and I gotta fly?' When we had our first conversation about the movie, my biggest statement to the Russos was, 'You better not make me look like an idiot.' That was my greatest fear. Even though I wanted to wear red spandex, I was hugely afraid of looking like a pigeon! As the Falcon aged [in the comics] and grew up, his uniform grew up. The uniform we have now is the uniform of an adult...The Ultimate look gives him a sense of purpose and makes him look like a badass. The wings can look funny at times, so you have to do something to combat that - at no point in time do you want him to show up on film and have people laugh. That's what we've been able to find, between the tactical suit and the Ultimate suit. As the franchise goes on and you see more of me and Captain America, the suit will evolve into the Ultimate look, the hard-leather black look. The suit that he has in this movie is more of a military suit because it's the first time you see it."

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