Now it’s Anthony Mackie’s turn to play Johnnie Cochran

By Sam Barsanti | June 15, 2016 | 12:34am

Aux Features Film

For whatever reason, ‘90s nostalgia has really zeroed in on the O.J. Simpson trial lately, with this, this, this, and this once again bringing names like Lance Ito, Mark Fuhrman, Marcia Clark, and Johnnie Cochran back into the public consciousness. Now, though, Cochran himself is getting a spin-off of sorts from all of that, with Mandela: The Long Walk To Freedom director Justin Chadwick signing on to direct a movie about 1981’s Signal Hill police brutality case—one of Cochran’s first high-profile courtroom appearances. On top of that, Captain America: Civil War’s Anthony Mackie has signed on to play Cochran, which sets us up for some tortured Johnnie Cochran/Avengers jokes like “if the vibranium shield don’t fit, you must acquit.”

This all comes from Deadline, which explains that the Signal Hill case revolved around a college football player named Ron Settles getting picked up by the cops for speeding, and not long after that, he was found hanging in his cell. Though the police ruled it a suicide, Cochran convinced Settles’ family to order an autopsy, which proved that he had actually been choked to death. The project doesn’t have a title yet and it’s unclear whether or not it will specifically focus on Cochran’s point-of-view, but that seems likely given that Mackie has been brought on so early.