Anthony Mackie Gets Real About The Lack Of Diversity Behind The Scenes In Most Marvel Films And Shows: “Every Single Person Has Been White”

Avengers star Anthony Mackie opened up about the lack of diversity in Marvel film crews.

On a virtual episode of Variety‘s Actors on Actors Daveed Diggs and Anthony Mackie dived into a variety of conversations pertaining to the acting arena. Specifically, they discussed their experience with commonly being around predominately non-Black people in front of the camera as well as behind the scenes.

“It really bothered me that I’ve done seven Marvel movies now [where] every producer, every director, every stunt person, every costume designer, every PA, every single person has been white,” said Mackie, who stars in the upcoming Marvel series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” “We’ve had one Black producer; his name was Nate Moore. He produced Black Panther. But then when you do Black Panther, you have a Black director, Black producer, you have a Black costume designer, you have a Black stunt choreographer. And I’m like, that’s more racist than anything else. Because 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?”

Mackie went on to say that he has pushed for big companies and studios like Marvel to focus on diversity but to also hire “the best person for the job.” He added that it’s important for actors like himself and Diggs to advocates for diversity within the arenas that they work.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is set to be released in August, and Mackie says it is like a “six or eight-hour movie.” There are no reports on whether the series will be pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Diggs starred in the TNT show “Snowpiercer,” which premiered back in May. Complex Media reports that it is still in the rollout stage for its first season.