The MCU's new Captain America actor Anthony Mackie threw shade at his predecessor Chris Evans for his post-MCU "couch potato" lifestyle.
The MCU family of cast and crew have famously grown close over the years, with the leads behind the Captain America franchise - Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, and Anthony Mackie - being among the franchise's most famous trios.
Ever since Evans departed the MCU with Avengers: Endgame, Stan and Mackie have continued their journey together through the buddy-cop Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Solder - although they have since had a bit of a breakup.
With Mackie's Sam Wilson now assumed Evans' former mantle of Captain America, the former MCU actor has shared his genuine pride for his successor, noting that there is "no one better to do it."
Anthony Mackie Calls Out Chris Evans' New Lifestyle: 'Couch Potato'
Speaking with Happy Sad Confused's Josh Horowitz, Sam Wilson actor Anthony Mackie threw some shade at the current lifestyle of his former MCU co-star Chris Evans following his departure from the Captain America mantle.
In a conversation with Horowitz in March 2021 during the press tour for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on the Comedy Central YouTube show Stir Crazy, Mackie and his co-star Sebastian Stan put their friendships with Evans to a test by texting him at the same time and seeing who he would respond to first
The result saw Mackie receive the first reply followed by Stan just minutes later. However, when Evans later spoke to Horowitz in a later interview with MTV, the Captain America star revealed Macckie actually said "don't text Sebastian, text me first" within his text to rig the competition:
"All right, so I got both texts immediately, and I'm gonna be honest. I'm gonna blow Mackie up right now. He said in his text, 'Don't text Sebastian, text me first.' But you know, I mean the truth is I would've texted them both back instantly. They're both dear friends of mine. I love them with all my heart. So, you know, Mackie knew what he was doing. [Mackie] did get the text out first, Seb was right behind him. So just for the sake of who got it in first, I had to send it back to Mackie."
In Horowitz's newest interview with Mackie, the interviewer called him out for cheating, to which he justified his actions, remarking “[I] didn’t cheat. You didn’t say what to text him…”
He continued his justification with the phrase, "If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t winning," before adding that he saw Evans "two days ago" and threw shade at him for being a "couch potato:"
“There’s a golfer named Jack and he says, ‘If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t winning.’ Alright? That’s all I’m gonna say? But, I saw Chris. Chris was here, shooting something and I saw him two days ago, man. he’s turned into a couch potato.”
Questioning if this was down to weight gain or a newfound love for the reality TV show Real Housewives, Mackie explained "he's just like a dude that stays home and don't do nothing" now, calling out Sebastian Stan for having done the same:
“No, no, no, he’s just like a dude that stays at home and don’t do nothing. I’m like, ‘Yo, what we doing? You wanna go to dinner?’ He’s like, ‘I’m kind of making a kale salad.’ And like, what are we doing? What are we doing? What are we doing? Him and Sebastian, they’ve turned into old men.”
He added that "they're not outside no more." While Evans has seemingly stepped back from his MCU role - at least for now - Stan remains active with a 2024 appearance set for the Thunderbolts movie:
“Yo, I’m the only one outside. They’re not outside no more. I called Sebastian last week, I was like, ‘Yo, we’re doing it. We’re doing it. I’m coming to New York.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, you know, I just– I kind of have to– I’m working on this thing.’ And what are you doing? We outside!”
Having asked what he means by "we doing it," Mackie added that it involves “finding a nice, neutral location, having a great dinner, laughing, and joking about the good times.”
After Horowitz praised the thought as "lovely," Mackie said, “See? Once we get outside, that’s a whole different conversation.”
What's Chris Evans Up to These Days?
Anthony Mackie, Chris Evans, and Sebastian Stan still seem to see each other around every now and then, but perhaps not as much as Mackie hopes. After all, the actor seemed jokingly critical of how they're not "outside" as much for meet-ups such as "dinner, laughing, and jokingly about the good times."
So, what's Chris Evans up to now that he's largely left the MCU behind for other things? Well, the former Captain America actor's biggest roles since then have included Lightyear, The Gray Man, and Knives Out, along with a television role in Apple TV+'s Defending Jacob.
Looking ahead to this year, Evans will be returning to Apple TV+ for the romantic action-adventure film Ghosted in April. The actor will also be teaming up with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to kickstart a new festive franchise with Red One and co-starring with Emily Blunt in Netflix's conspiracy drama Pain Hustlers.
This all comes amid talk of whether Evans will ever return to the MCU, with many speculating that could come with Avengers: Secret Wars.
All of Chris Evans' MCU appearances are streaming now on Disney+.
