'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' costume designer said he saw Anthony Mackie 'light up' when he put on the Captain America costume for the first time

• "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" introduced Sam Wilson as the new Captain America.
• Costume designer Michael Crow told Insider that Anthony Mackie, who plays the hero, loved his new look.
• Crow also spoke to Insider about designing costumes for Madripoor and John Walker's Cap look.

The finale of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" introduced Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson as the new Captain America. And with that, came a brand new Cap costume.

Michael Crow, the costume designer for "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," told Insider that the moment Mackie put on his new look for the first time it was a memorable moment.

"I really loved putting the costume on Anthony for the first time. I got a real kick out of it," Crow said. "I could see his face light up; like he was excited. I know he was excited."

Crow, who also worked in the costume department on a number of Marvel films, including "Captain America: Civil War," "Avengers: Infinity War," and "Avengers: Endgame," said that the concept for the new Captain America costume originated with Ryan Meinderding, who's the head of visual development at Marvel. He also collaborated with Mackie "to create the costume."

"I tried to keep some of the costs, some of the ideas and details, the way things are made, from the previous costumes and also from his Falcon costume. It's a sort of a merger of the two," he added, noting that he tried "to take elements from each and create something new was the challenge and the goal."

Wilson's version of Captain America costume is clearly a merger of both Cap and Falcon as Crow intended. The white and red touches make it clear that this new iteration of Cap was born from Falcon and Steve Rogers' star-spangled man. Plus the digitally-added Falcon wings and Captain America shield complete the look.

But Mackie's Falcon wasn't the only star-spangled man in the Disney Plus show. Wyatt Russell starred as John Walker, who by the end of the show ends up taking on the mantle of US Agent.

At first, however, he is tasked with being the new Captain America. Initially, it didn't go well and the burden of such an important role brought out some of the darker sides of Walker.

Crow wanted to reflect that in the character's costume, which he also designed, and told Insider he wanted the character to look harsher, darker, and much more serious than Rogers' Cap ever did.

"There are a lot more angles in that costume," Crow said, "and also taking away the white certainly helps."

Fans also noted that there is a lack of white in Walker's Cap costume, which could signify the lack of purity in his character compared to Rodgers.

Crow said that while this specific theory didn't cross his mind during the design, it does make sense and falls into what he wanted to achieve with the costume.

"We also brightened the red," Crow added, noting it looks like the color of blood. "It's a lot, a lot more violent with the contrast between the blue and the red in his costume versus Chris Evans' Captain America."

During the finale episode, viewers also saw one of the more colorful and decadent corners of the Marvel universe in the brand new Madripoor, an area of the MCU we had never seen before.

In the show, Daniel Brühl's Baron Zemo took Sam and Bucky (Sebastian Stan) to Madripoor to help stop the Flag Smashers. It's here that they encounter a wide variety of disreputable figures in this criminal sanctuary (think the alien space bar from "A New Hope," but in the MCU) and everyone present seems larger than life.

Crow wanted to ensure Madripoor felt like a vibrant mix of cultures and backgrounds, which is evident from the fabric choices - from furs to African-inspired prints.

"We took inspiration from all over the world. We wanted Madripoor to feel very international," Crow said.

"So for low town we took inspiration from different gangs and mafia ... from around the world - from Eastern Europe, from Scandinavia, from Africa, from South America. And then we put them all in one pot so that it didn't feel like any one place in particular."

Mackie reprises his role as Captain America in the upcoming "Captain America 4" movie, which is being written by "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" showrunner Malcolm Spellman. He'll write the script with Dalan Musson, a staff writer on the Disney Plus show.

While the movie will follow Wilson in his first solo outing as Captain America, we know little else about the project. There have been no casting announcements as of yet, nor is a director attached.

Evans has been rumored to return to the MCU, but there are also rumors that his return will be separate to this fourth Cap movie. As usual, Marvel has remained tight-lipped.