Spider-Man: Far From Home features Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and references to Avengers Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, Thor, and Iron Man (RIP). But another Avenger almost joined Tom Holland’s Spidey: The new Captain America. 

“We briefly talked about bringing in [Anthony Mackie’s] Falcon as Captain America at the end, like maybe once Peter’s arced,” creative executive Eric Carroll revealed to ComicBook.com while being interviewed with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. 

Carroll further explained that we would have seen Sam’s Cap “sort of like leading the team” and Peter Parker would call in a favor to the new owner of Steve Rogers’ shield. So why did the filmmakers scrap the cameo?

“We also thought it was really important to the arc of this movie that there not be other Avengers available to Nick Fury or Peter, so [Peter would] have to step up and do it himself,” Carroll said. 

Feige added: “Ultimately, Spider-Man: Far From Home is Spider-Man’s journey, whether any other heroes appear in it or not. It’s all about Peter stepping up. And Peter getting out of the shadow, not just of Tony but of the Avengers in general.”

Ultimately, holding off on this cameo was the best idea. Mackie’s character inheriting the mantle of Captain America was a significant moment in Avengers: Endgame, and his first appearance in full Cap mode deserves more than a few moments of screentime. Anything less than a feature film to usher in this new era of Cap would have likely been met with a backlash from both fans and critics, so Marvel made the wise move to hold off on dropping him into Spidey’s new movie. 

As cool as it would have been to see Cap and Spidey interact for a scene, it will be even cooler to see this Cap make his debut in his own film — or, hopefully, in Marvel’s Disney+ series featuring Mackie and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky. 

Spider-Man: Far From Home opens everywhere July 2. Grab your tickets below!