The First Avenger: Captain America

Captain America’s Movie Costume Details

Like many comic book characters, simply lifting a costume design from the source material into a live-action adaptation may not work or make sense within the context of which the story is taking place. Case in point: The X-Men and the major changes in costume design from books to movies.

That being said, sometimes it can be done right as we saw with Zack Snyder’s Watchmen. But what will director Joe Johnston do to include, introduce and utilize Captain America’s iconic costume design? He does have an idea for how to bring in a character costume that’s designed based on the nation’s flag into the movie but it’s not something we’ve ever encountered in the comics.

LA Times’ Hero Complex interviewed the director yesterday and here’s Joe Johnston’s explanation:

He continues to explain how this plot point was obviously never in the books because in the comics it was unneeded and it makes sense for heroes to sport extreme costumes. In a major motion picture
, this has to be introduced or explained so it makes sense within the realism of the movie and for the suspension of disbelief of mainstream moviegoers.

They do have to explain why the heck Steve Rogers would wear this thing during the war. However, what the director said later on the subject in detail may concern fans even more.

We know Cap will be a super soldier who they don’t want to waste, so they throw him in the United Services Organizations, the group responsible for entertaining and boosting the morale of soldiers overseas during wartime. This is how he gets the costume, but what we can we expect from his involvement in USO exactly?


Johnston continues:

Johnston also confirms that we will see more than one costume in the movie, specifying that during the epic song and dance USO sequences, he’ll be wearing something closer to the classic Jack Kirby design but later, when going all out into war, he sports a costume design that’s more practical, heavier and more muted in colors. An example of a costume change is that the stripes along Captain America’s midsection will be straps instead of colored fabric.

Casting

We know thanks to The Wolfman press event Friday that they’re aiming for an unknown actor to play Captain America as Marvel Studios did with Kenneth Branagh’s Thor and that they have to decide by March 1st. From this LA Times interview we know a few more specifics in that they have a final set of candidates and an age-range.

Aside from the obvious that this role is extremely important for the future plans of Marvel Studios and their Avengers project, the role is also difficult to cast for the requirements of the story. The character in the movie must go from a “98-pound weakling” to the large buff hero we know him as.

Iron Man 2 opens May 7, 2010, Thor opens May 5, 2011 , The First Avenger: Captain America hits July 22, 2011 and The Avengers is scheduled to debut May 4, 2012.

Source: Screenrant

Weaving is in talks to play Red Skull.

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Suspect's Reviews

I don't get why filmmakers think they have to justify a flashy superhero costume just because the actors are real. In some cases, this is obviously an issue (Wolverine's yellow costume would look ridiculous in live action). But this is Captain America. He's Marvel's Superman. The costume is so iconic that it's the only one that should be considered. As long as the film is good in all the departments that count, nobody will care about his costume or why he's wearing it anyway.

And besides, the WW2 era costume almost seems to fit with the times, since he's intended to be the poster boy for the war effort. He's almost a walking piece of propaganda.

It's Official: Chris Evans Is Captain America!

Today we reach the anti-climax of the Captain America casting fiasco, with The Heat Vision Blog exclusively reporting that actor Chris Evans (Fantastic Four, Push) has accepted the role of Marvel’s star-spangled Avenger, in the upcoming origin film, The First Avenger: Captain America.

This report comes just on the heels of the news that Evans had been offered the role of Cap and after a weekend of anxiety that the search had come to an end, THR’s sources reveal that he has in fact accept the offer.

Chris Evans is now a poster boy for the future of Marvel. He’s not just a World War II hero, he’s the leader of The Avengers for years to come. As those who have been following the Captain America news know, the deal Evans has reportedly accept is a 9-picture contract which sets him up for at least a trilogy of Captain America films, a trilogy of Avengers films and other appearances in future Marvel projects.

The plan for casting the title character in The First Avenger: Captain America was initially to get an unknown and surround him with stars and veterans, but after testing every young fit actor in the world and having the vast majority of them shot down by fans and blogs everywhere, Marvel and director Joe Johnston decided on an actor very familiar with the comic book genre. As we know, Evans played the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four franchise and has roles in The Losers and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World which both release later this year. Bringing the comic book theme full circle, Scott Pilgrim is directed by Edgar Wright who of course, is helming Ant-Man for Marvel Studios.

Evans will stand beside Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor in the most ambitious comic book movie ever come 2012 and it’s a joyous time for fans. Let’s hope Ed Norton gets up there with them as Bruce Banner/Hulk. And maybe Ant-Man too…

The First Avenger: Captain America hits July 22, 2011 and The Avengers is scheduled to debut May 4, 2012.

Source: Screenrant

Eh. I'm glad they picked an actor who's capable of real emotion and conviction (as opposed to Channing Tatum, who is about as emotional as a brick). But I still don't think Evans is the best man for the job. He just doesn't have the presence that you'd think an actor would need to play Captain America.

And while I think it's admirable that Joe Johnston refused to consider anyone who wasn't American, I also think that might have been unnecessarily limiting. There are some great British and Australian actors out there who can look and sound as All-American as anybody.

Great article!

So the Human Torch is also Captain America? That's stupid. Sure hope the movie is decent.

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You beat me to the punch on that post.

Chris Evans would be a good Bucky. Cap?! LOL why?! Are there a shortage of blond muscular male actors out there? Im sure of all the blond muscleheads in the biz at least one would have the raw charisma necessary to pull off Captain America. Instead its not whose best for the role but who does this guy know. This movie will probably be drizzlin feces.....but Hugh Jackman at 6'2" pulled off being Wolverine with a competent director in Singer. Maybe this flick will surprise us.

o i am sooooo excited for this!

This is funny because when I think who should play Captain America, at least based on a certain era, I'd say that a star is OK with me and both Charlton Heston and George Clooney (from that other thread) work, as I said, maybe when they were younger, but hey, they represent!

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I think Ed Harris would have made a killer Captain America.

Bald, but killer.

The only minor problem with Clooney would be that he's already played Batman. Sure it was ancient history to some folks, but I remember it fine. I know a lot of folks don't really care about that but for some reason I do. I want the guys that play the superheros to not play different ones as well. Maybe... just maybe I'm a weirdo. But when they get the right guy there's no one else for that role. I think I would love some kind of big star as well.

Hell, as much as I don't really care for the guys acting chops I kind of think that Paul Walker would be pretty good for Cap. Maybe he's not a Superstar but he's big enough with the younger crowd to get an audience even if the film is terrible, I reckon.

Anyway, we've now seen how it goes with these adaptations and how they can be done well. This one appears to be going the Daredevil route instead of the Ironman route. Pity.

Here's a name. Matthew McConaughey. Pretty big star and hasn't played a Superhero yet. He has the right look and would probably even do it if asked.

Thought about him, but he'd have to lose his thick Southern drawl.

I don't think Clooney would have been good for Cap at any point in his life. He's just too Dean Martin to play a tough-as-nails, All-American soldier.

I think it's interesting that we're all thinking older, too. They want to cast a younger tyke, probably to sweep in the younger crowds (how old is Downey? Ed Norton?), and I guess I can see that a WWII soldier would be fairly young anyway. But he's a captain too, and more importantly, a true leader. It seems to me that an older actor who can make you believe he's got a few years' worth of dirt under his fingernails was the way to go.

And, as it were, I think Thomas Jane would have been perfect. Nevermind that he played the Punisher already. He's built, he's got the charisma of a leader, he can act marginally well, and he can play All-American to a tee.

Cap should be older. Wasn't he actually quite old in the comics if memory serves? I'd rather Aaron Eckhart than Thomas Jane.

But either way that's just a few guys that would have been fine.

I hope this movie doesn't suck.

His age really depends. It seems like they're going for more of an Ultimates treatment, and I think he's supposed to be a twenty-something in that. Maybe late-twenties. It's just that the way he's drawn, his dialogue, everything... he just feels older. More experienced.

Eckhart would be pretty good too, although his voice is just a little high for my tastes. He comes off as kinda soft sometimes, too.

This movie will suck. Joe Johnston is in charge.

Oh, I don't know about that. October Sky is one of my favorite films and Mark has tabbed before about how good he thinks The Rocketeer is. I have it and still need to watch it. But I'll definitely take his word for it. I actually like Hidalgo quite a bit too, so there may be hope for this. I have to wonder aloud though if he even really had any input in the hiring of this kid to play Cap. I sort of doubt it, but if he did I hope he knows what he's doing. Captain America is another one of the Marvel "biggies" and if they screw this one up they're gonna lose another chunk of fans that may not go and see the next one.

October Sky is admittedly great, and yeah, The Rocketeer is a fun little flick. But it's also 20 years old, and he has had far more floaters than winners since then.

And despite the fact that it's a 1940s superhero-ish movie that seems to match what a Captain America film should be, it's completely off the mark based on what I imagine Marvel is going to want. Today's Captain America is gritty and mean, and unless they go for the corngold "Superman-of-the-Marvel-world" treatment, the film is going to be a brutal action film.

Really, it comes down to what the script is like. Christopher Markus has done the recent Narnia flicks, which are very tight but pretty terrible in the dialogue department. We'll see what happens, but I think Johnston's filmography shows that he fares poorly with bad scripts. (And he sure seems to get a lot of them.)

Marvel Makes It Officially Official – Hugo Weaving Is Red Skull

Months after it was initially revealed (via Heat Vision) comes official confirmation. Hugo Weaving will play the Red Skull in The First Avenger: Captain America.

Here's the press release:

Source: IESB

Not quite sure how I feel about Chris Evans playing Captain America... seems a bit unrealistic considering he's part of the Fantastic Four. Still feel like Mike Vogel would have been a pretty good choice just due to the mere fact that he's got the look. Thoughts?