Anthony Mackie Calls Out Marvel for Lack of Diversity | Decider

Anthony Mackie is calling on Marvel to improve diversity within its ranks. In a Variety Actors on Actors interview with Daveed Diggs, Mackie, star of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, lamented that he’s appeared in multiple Marvel films where everyone behind the scenes is white. The one notable exception? “When you do Black Panther, you have a Black director, Black producer, a Black costume designer, a Black stunt choreographer,” said the MCU’s Falcon. “That’s more racist than anything else.”

Diggs and Mackie’s discussion was incredibly wide-ranging, but it didn’t take long for their attention to shift to the Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the globe. “What are the ways that you find yourself interacting with the moment?” asked Diggs. “I find a lot of my interactions are just trying to make things better in the gigs I have in front of me — how can I affect different kinds of representation?”

Mackie was quick to indict Marvel for lack of diversity in front of and behind the camera. “When The Falcon and the Winter Soldier comes out, I’m the lead. When Snowpiercer came out, you’re the lead,” he told Diggs. “We have the power and the ability to ask those questions.”

“It really bothered me that I’ve done seven Marvel movies where every producer, every director, every stunt person, every costume designer, every PA, every single person has been white,” continued Mackie. While he appreciated Marvel hiring a Black producer, Nate Moore, for Black Panther, the decision to recruit an entirely Black crew for the film didn’t sit well with him. “If you only can hire the Black people for the Black movie, are you saying they’re not good enough when you have a mostly white cast?” asked the actor.

“My big push with Marvel is hire the best person for the job,” concluded Mackie. “Even if it means we’re going to get the best two women, we’re going to get the best two men. Fine. I’m cool with those numbers for the next 10 years. Because it starts to build a new generation of people who can put something on their résumé to get them other jobs. If we’ve got to divvy out as a percentage, divvy it out. And that’s something as leading men that we can go in and push for.”

Read Anthony Mackie and Daveed Diggs’ entire Actors on Actors interview on Variety.