Before Anthony Mackie was Captain America, and even before Falcon, he had his eyes on playing another Marvel character.

In a new interview with Inverse, the 44-year-old actor revealed that he was so passionate that he actually wrote letters to Marvel about playing Black Panther.

“I had been contacting Marvel a lot about Black Panther,” he shared with the outlet. “I had written them letters. I was trying to find a way to make them make Black Panther. And I wanted to be Black Panther because growing up I fucking loved Black Panther.”

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While that role wasn’t for him – it went to the late Chadwick Boseman – Anthony will still never forget the day that he was offered Sam Wilson aka Falcon.

“I’ll never forget, Joe Russo said, ‘Listen, so we’re doing this movie. We want you to be in it. We can’t say what character you’re playing or who else is going to be in it. Would you do it?’” he recalled. “And that was it. I was like, ‘You know what, I like y’all dudes. I’ll do it. I’ll go on this ride with you.’”

As Falcon becomes the next Captain America, Anthony is reflecting on the pressure that brings as well.

“There’s a huge amount of pressure,” he confessed. “You throw my dumb a** in the water, and you’re like, ‘Swim.’ I’m like, ‘Sh**.’”

Anthony added that “at the same time, it’s all in the state of mind. I’ve been given a great cast. I’ve been given a great group of people who I’ve worked with before.”

Captain America: Brave New World is expected to arrive in theaters next year on July 26.

In the same interview, Anthony also weighed in on Jonathan Majors‘ recent legal troubles.