Anthony Mackie believes his casting as the first Black Captain America typifies "the American dream"

He told 'Extra': "My grandfather was a sharecropper, my dad was a roofer and I'm Captain America. Benjamin E. Mays said we study agriculture so that our kids can study math and science, so that our grandkids can study the arts. That's the American dream."

Anthony hopes viewers of all ages can identify with the character's best qualities, just as he looked up to Superman when he was young.

He said: "I think we've got away from just disappearing from reality, and going to a movie theatre and enjoying ourselves.

"When I was a kid, one of my favourite superheroes was Superman because no matter what his race was, no matter what planet he was from, he had the humanity and the dignity that I can sit there and want to emulate, that I could aspire to.

"And I think with Captain America, I want kids, I want adults to feel the same way. I want people to look at this character and say there's a certain level of humanity, there's a certain level of compassion, there's a certain level of empathy that I would like to have in my day-to-day life, something that I can emulate, and just enjoy it.

"It's a good movie, and it's fun, and it's exciting - and it's kick-ass."

Anthony also produced the movie, and he is so excited for the world to see the finished product that the team has worked "really hard" on.

He added: "I hope people take away the entertainment of the film.

"I'm excited for people to see the movie.

"A lot of people worked really hard on this movie, and I can say that as a producer, I saw it firsthand, and I'm just so excited that hard work paid off for it to be the best movie it can be."