‘Avengers’ Star Anthony Mackie Criticizes Marvel For Lack Of Diversity: ‘It Really Bothered Me’

Anthony Mackie criticized Marvel for the lack of diversity and said that he was bothered on set because "every single person has been white."

The “Avengers: Infinity War” star talked about his working experience with Marvel. Mackie has appeared on several superhero movie films from the media franchise, and he noticed the lack of diversity on set.

“When ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ comes out, I’m the lead,” Mackie said, mentioning the new Marvel TV series for Disney Plus, Page Six reported.

“When ‘Snowpiercer’ came out, you’re the lead. We have the power and the ability to ask those questions. It really bothered me that I’ve done seven Marvel movies where every producer, every director, every stunt person, every costume designer, every PA, every single person has been white.”

Mackie said they had one Black producer named Nate Moore who produced “Black Panther.” However, he still noticed that there was something wrong.

“But then when you do ‘Black Panther,’ you have a Black director, Black producer, a Black costume designer, a Black stunt choreographer. And I’m like, that’s more racist than anything else,” he continued.

“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 advised Marvel to “hire the best person for the job” regardless of their color and gender.

“Even if it means we’re going to get the best two women, we’re going to get the best two men. Fine. I’m cool with those numbers for the next 10 years. Because it starts to build a new generation of people who can put something on their résumé to get them other jobs,” he added.

Meanwhile, Jenny Slate decided to drop her role as Missy on the animated TV show “Big Mouth.” Slate said she played the role because the character’s mom is Jewish and White like her. However, Missy is also black which made her rethink of the role.

“‘Missy’ is also Black, and Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people,” Slate wrote on Instagram.

Kristen Bell also announced that she was relinquishing her role as “Molly” on “Central Park.” The “Frozen” star said she wants to give it to someone who can give it a more accurate portrayal.

“Casting a mixed race character w/a white actress undermines the specificity of the mixed race & Black American experience,” she wrote on Twitter.