New "Captain America" ​​Anthony Mackie: There are too many restrictions on adapting Marvel works

Anthony Mackie is familiar with works involving IP, but he said that comic adaptations are a completely different situation.

"Marvel is completely different because it's a very controlled entertainment space," McKay told the magazine. "There's only so much room to play. We can only be so creative because Stan Lee only left us so much. Chariots of Fire is more like, 'Here's a man and a woman, now let's start the story,' and we can really build the world around that."

Chariots of Fire is based on the popular video game series of the same name. MacKay plays John Doe, an amnesiac milkman who needs to travel across post-apocalyptic America to deliver a mysterious package (the contents of which are unknown). The series premiered in July 2023 and was renewed for a second season by the Peacock platform in December.

“That’s the difficulty with the Marvel Universe,” MacKay said. “You can’t really stray from the comic book setting. For example, Falcon’s growth into Captain America has to be consistent with the setting left by Stan Lee. With Chariots of Fire, it was more like, ‘Let’s just play around and figure it out as we go along.’ ”

Captain America 4 will see Mackie's Sam Wilson take over as Captain America, and will pick up right after the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Captain America: New World Order is set to hit theaters on February 14, 2025. For more great movies coming to theaters, check out our list of the most anticipated movies of 2024 and beyond.