CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (Mackie Speaks)

• CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

We don't know a lot about Anthony Mackie's role as The Falcon in the upcoming Marvel Studios sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but now we've got a few details from the actor himself. In an interview with AICN, Mackie spoke more so than he has previously about the part.

Mackie as Falcon

"I will have wings. I will be able to fly. I will be a superhero and fight people, namely The Winter Soldier."

Mackie has been really studying for the part, too.

"It was funny; a lot of the research I found was online. My older brother was a huge comic book buff. So when the news came out online, he called me and just gave me the whole rundown. Luckily, I have a lot of friends who weren’t cool growing up, but who are really cool now, so they read a lot of comic books. So I would just call and ask them, and they would send me all of this stuff online, and I got to read a bunch of the old comic books. It’s fortunate, because it’s a take off the comic book, it’s not the exactly storyline of the comic book."

Falcon and his pet Red Wing

When asked about his Falcon’s trusty pet Redwing, Mackie wouldn’t give a solid answer on whether or not we will see the bird. He then added:

"This is what I learned about franchises. They can always cast somebody else and say, 'Well that last person died,' or just not address it. You see the second movie, and the guy is a different guy than the first, and they're like, 'Yep, same dude to me.'”

One thing Mackie would confirm though is that filming for Captain America: The Winter Soldier would begin on April 1.

The film is slated to star Chris Evans, reprising his role as Steve Rogers/Captain America, and newcomer Frank Grillo as Crossbones. Reprising their roles from Marvel's The Avengers are Samuel L. Jackson as Fury, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill. Also returning is Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier.

Set to be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Captain America: The Winter Soldier will hit theaters on April 4, 2014.