‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Star Anthony Mackie Calls Out Lack of Black Characters In ‘Harry Potter’ And ‘The Lord of the Ring” Films: “I Want To See Frodo In The Hood”
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Whether it’s Harry Potter enduring endless-but-ultimately-toothless calls for boycotts due to J.K. Rowling’s actual feminist views or the continuous attempts to politicize J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic The Lord of the Rings works, recent years have seen numerous fantasy franchises uncharitably thrown under the bus due to their failure to satisfy Hollywood’s so-called ‘modern standards’.
Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) spreads his wings in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Season 1 Episode 8 “One World, One People” (2023), Marvel Entertainment
In the latest case of someone attempting to overwrite the original vision of a beloved author, rather than rabid activists or ESG-driven executives, Captain America: Brave New World star Anthony Mackie has slammed both of the aforementioned franchises over their lack of black characters.
Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Marvel Studios’ THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Eli Adé. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s current Wielder of The Shield weighed in on the topic during a recent interview with Inverse.
Speaking with the outlet’s Jake Kleinman about his upcoming directorial debut Spark, a biopic based on the life Claudette Colvin, a black woman whose refusal to abide by Segregation Era bus laws predated Rosa Parks’ by several months but was ultimately hushed away due to her being pregnant and unmarried, Mackie revealed that the film was meant to not only honor the unsung civil rights icon but also address what he believes to be a lack of acting opportunities for young black actors.
Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) makes one last desperate play to stop The Flag Smashers in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Season 1 Episode 8 “One World, One People” (2023), Marvel Entertainment
“Harry Potter had no f*cking Black friends,” the actor asserted. “Frodo walked across the entire universe and never met a Black dude.”
“I want to see Frodo in the hood,” he added, “which if I ever do Saturday Night Live is going to be a skit I’m going to do.”
Aragorn gets race-swapped via Card #394, Magic: The Gathering – The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Set (2023), Wizards of the Coast, Art by Magali Villeneuve.
Of course, fans of both franchises know that Mackie’s criticisms are, at best, disingenuous.
Set in 1990’s Britain, Rowling’s wizarding world of Harry Potter is far from lacking in diversity.
From Harry’s non-white classmates Dean Thomas, Paraviti and Padma Patil, and Cho Chang – all of whom played a significant role in rebelling against Professor Umbridge’s regime as members of Dumbledore’s Army in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – to the eventual Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt, the series has no shortage of ethnically diverse characters.
Dumbledore’s Army in the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Warner Bros.
Conversely, unlike the more modern day Harry Potter, The Lord of the Ring‘s fantasy world of Middle Earth – specifically the Shire where Frodo and the Hobbits live – is based off of Tolkien’s own surrounding in 1930’s England, a country which at the time was not known for being overtly diverse.
Further, Tolkien wrote his fantasy epic with the specific goal of creating a ‘modern mythology’ for his countrymen, and thus more of his characters share physical attributes with the country’s most prominent demographic.
Dominic Monaghan as Merry, Elijah Wood as Frodo, Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee, and Billy Boyd as Pippin in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Extended Edition (2003), Warner Bros. Pictures
At the time of this writing, due to a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mackie’s busy schedule and the ongoing WGA Writer’s Strike, a release date for Spark has yet to be confirmed.