WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
Writing this article I actually found out something quite interesting and that is the fact that Falcon is the first black superhero to appear in a mainstream comic books! What’s funny about this for me is that, even though it genuinely happens in the comics, people were outraged by the idea of him taking up the mantle of Captain America (Don’t worry, there won’t be a second article). Additionally, in the comics Falcon actually has powers! He has a telepathic link to birds which doesn’t feature at all in the MCU.
Gangster Squad
Interestingly, this film was actually inspired by the genuine LAPD Gangster Squad that was formed in 1946 which later became known as the Organized Crime Intelligence Division. Now, is there a better way to introduce a character than them throwing a knife into a drug dealer’s hand – mid deal! Well, this is how we meet Anthony’s character of Officer Coleman Harris. His role is small in comparison to those of Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin and Emma Stone but I’ll be honest, you can’t describe him as anything other than intense at times. I also love the way he plays off of against Robert Patrick’s character of Kennard – like repeatedly referring to him as ‘hop-along’. They say never to bring a knife to a gun fight – but he does take one of the bad guys out pretty smoothly during the fight in Chinatown…with a knife!!! It’s funny to think that the man he fights alongside in this film, Mackie would later be fighting against in Avengers: Infinity War as Josh Brolin went on to play Thanos.
The Hurt locker
Truthfully, I could have covered this film for at least 3 of the MCU cast – Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner or Evangeline Lilly, but really focusing on Mackie makes the most sense as he’s the only one in it from beginning to end, which I’d never realised before because I was too distracted by them killing Guy Pearce off so early. I’ll be honest, when of my favourite moments is when he casually walks up to Renner’s character, Sergeant James, and punches him in the face for taking off his headset. It’s hard to tell if he’s still grieving for Thompson or he if can’t stand James because he’s so reckless. However you see their relationship grow – into a simple heart to heart right towards the end of the film. You can tell by the way the film ends that technically Renner is all along supposed to be the lead character but they balance their roles so well that you don’t really notice
Half Nelson
I have questions about Mackie’s character in this film. Is Frank the reason that Mike went to prison? Is there a chance that he’s Dre’s real dad? I actually think it might be both – he keeps referring to Mike as a good friend and Mike does tell Dre that Frank owes them but the fact that he goes to Dre’s basketball game and takes her out for food is kind of going above and beyond that. The age difference between Mike and Dre isn’t obvious but could Frank has slept with their mum while he was working with Mike? I don’t think I could say their names any more times if I tried! Anyway, this is the second film on this list where he worked with Ryan Gosling. Interestingly, they have about 3 scenes together before Mackie even acknowledges Gosling’s character
