Marvel tried to recast Captain America for one Avengers: Endgame scene

Make-up was instead used to alter Chris Evans’s appearance

The role of Captain America was nearly recast for one of the final scenes in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.

In the film, Steve Rogers, who has been played throughout the MCU by Chris Evans, travels back in time to live out his life with his former flame Peggy Carter.

In the “present”, an elderly Steve Rogers hands the mantle of Captain America over to Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson, aka Falcon.

In the finished film, the elderly version of Steve Rogers is portrayed by Evans, with the application of heavy make-up and CGI. However, Mackie has now revealed that this wasn’t always the plan.

“It's funny, they actually wanted to cast an old dude to play Chris Evans,” Mackie told The Jess Cagle Show. 

Chris Evans at the end of Avengers: Endgame, wearing old age make-up (Marvel Studios)

“So they brought in like three actors. They're like, none of these. Like, this isn't how Chris will look when he's old. Like, he's gonna [look] he's like George Clooney. He's going to be 95 and still like handsome, you know? So, they brought in a makeup team and prosthetics and makeup and made him into an old man. And how good of an actor Chris is, it actually worked. He pulled it off with his voice and everything. He did a great job.”

Mackie will reprise the role of Sam Wilson in the Disney+ original series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, opposite Sebastian Stan, who plays Bucky Barnes. The series is scheduled to be released on 19 March.

Tomorrow (15 January), releases its first MCU TV series on Disney+, the Scarlett Witch and Vision-themed WandaVision.