Captain America 4 may be coming sooner than you think

Is Captain America 4 closer than we think it is? The highly-anticipated Marvel sequel has been a constant subject of conversation amongst fans ever since the news of it being in development was first reported a few weeks ago. Marvel has yet to officially confirm the project’s existence, but coming off the success of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, there’s little reason to believe a fourth Captain America film isn’t part of the studio’s ongoing plans.

And the film may not be that far away either.

The News — During a recent appearance on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (via Murphy’s Multiverse), Anthony Mackie (the MCU’s new Captain America) spoke a bit about the training and preparation he has to put in before working on Marvel projects. The actor said, “You take the four months. Like right now, I am at the end of the first month of the four-month process to get back away from fat Mackie to movie Mackie.”

Now, Mackie does not confirm what project he’s currently in the process of preparing for, but given the context of the conversation, some Marvel fans have taken it as a hint that Mackie may be on the verge of working on one of the studio’s upcoming MCU titles. Possibly Captain America 4?

Captain America’s Future in the MCU — There’s no way of knowing for sure what project Mackie might be in the midst of a four-month training process for. He may be preparing for Captain America 4 or another MCU project. He could even be preparing for Signal Hill, an upcoming non-Marvel project he’s set to star in.

But in the interest of good old-fashioned MCU speculation, let’s just assume he’s getting ready for a Marvel project. What upcoming Phase Four title could he be preparing for?

Based on the timeline Mackie laid out in the interview, he could conceivably be working on a couple of possible projects in three months, including The Marvels, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, She-Hulk, and Armor Wars. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Secret Invasion are also on the table, depending on when those two projects officially go into production.

There is the chance he could be preparing to film scenes for Captain America 4 as well, but since it’s been said that the script for that film is still being written, it seems unlikely that the sequel will be in any way ready to begin principal photography in just a few months from now. Although, that is assuming that the project isn’t further along in its development than we’ve been led to believe.

The Inverse Analysis — There are plenty of Marvel projects that Anthony Mackie could be preparing to work on later this year. Of the present options, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Armor Wars, and Secret Invasion seem like the likeliest options, given Sam Wilson’s pre-existing connections to some of the characters in those films and shows.

But it really all depends on what Marvel has planned for its new Captain America. For all we know, the next time we see Sam Wilson — he could be on the moon.

Captain America 4 has not yet been officially announced.