Anthony Mackie closes deal to keep the shield, will return as Sam Wilson in 'Captain America 4'

Our new Captain America is headed to the big screen. Deadline confirmed Wednesday that Anthony Mackie has locked in a deal with Marvel Studios to reprise the role of Sam Wilson in a fourth Captain America movie.

The project, which was first reported in April of this year, is being written by Malcolm Spellman, head writer on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Dalan Musson, another member of the Disney+ show's writing team. Mackie apparently learned of the news while out shopping.

"I literally found out yesterday in a grocery store," he told Entertainment Weekly not long after word broke in April. "The checkout guy named Dwayne, a cool cat, he's like, 'Yo, man. Is this real?!' [holds up a cell phone] 'I'm like, 'I haven't heard anything.' That's what I love about working for Marvel. They call you, they're like, 'Come to L.A. We wanna tell you what's going on.' So, I'm excited to see what happens, but I haven't heard anything."

Sam, who was bequeathed Steve Rogers' famous shield at the end of Avengers: Endgame, didn't assume the role of Cap right away. He grappled with the legacy and responsibility of the mantle throughout the six episodes of the Disney+ limited series he shared with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Run-ins with John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), America's forgotten Black super-soldier, finally convinced him to carry on the red, white, and blue torch.

A director has yet to be announced for Captain America 4, which will mark Mackie's seventh adventure in the MCU. It's a great example of how Marvel plans to tie all of its small screen efforts to what's happening on the big screen. “These will be Marvel Studios productions,” Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige said in 2019. “They will be entirely interwoven with both the current MCU, the past MCU, and the future of the MCU.”

Before we get a glimpse of Sam's first feature-length turn as Cap, however, we've still got plenty more films and shows waiting patiently for their time in the spotlight. The remainder of What If...?, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Hawkeye, and Spider-Man: No Way Home are all on the docket for the rest of 2021 alone.

SYFY WIRE has reached out to Disney for comment.

All six episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier are now available to stream on Disney+.