The woods behind my parents’ house in Elizabeth, Indiana, were home to some of the most ridiculous superhero movies that never happened, all of them starring me, and all of them made up by me as I went along.
I spent lots of time zipping between trees in my Captain America Underoos, slinging around a garbage can lid as my shield. So I’m pretty excited about the prospects for Marvel’s Captain America movie, even though I think The First Avenger: Captain America is one of the worst movie titles I’ve ever heard. Just call it Captain America, for crying out loud.
Anyway, director Joe Johnston has been talking a lot about the movie lately, and here are some of the things he’s saying:
He told HitFix that the villain will indeed be the Red Skull, and that filming would take place in the United Kingdom since most of the movie occurs during World War II.
Hero Complex reports some more of Johnston’s musings, including the evolution of Cap’s costume throughout the film. It sounds like he’ll be relegated to the USO circuit by commanders too terrified to waste their only super soldier in combat, but that after he goes off on his own, he’ll come around to seeing the uniform as a rallying symbol of unity and leadership. One particularly interesting quote:
In the first USO sequences, the frustrated patriot will be wearing a version that is closer to the classic Jack Kirby-designed costume, but then later as the super-soldier hits the war zone he will be wearing a sturdier, more muted version that he makes himself that is more like battle togs. The stripes across his mid-section, for instance, will be straps, not colored fabric.
Sounds like they’re going for a more realistic approach (as Nolan did with Batman), but the film’s “USO then AWOL” approach should allow for both the classic “comic booky” costume and a battlefield version a little more suitable for film.
Regarding casting:
And who will wear the costume and carry the shield? “Well, we’re testing five or six guys,” Johnston said. “The youngest is 23, the oldest is 32. Most of the guys in the war are just kids, 18 or 19, but we want to go a little bit older. We have to have somebody locked in before I leave March 1 for London.”
I hope they go older, or at least get someone who can play older. We shall see. And soon, from the sound of it.
Meanwhile, if you can’t wait until the film’s July 22, 2011 release date for some Captain America action, check out Hulu for the once-rare 1990 version.
(I won’t be satisfied until they find the old Captain America TV movies from the late 1970s starring Reb Brown as Cap. You know, the ones with the giant helmet and the shield that was red, white, and … clear?)
UPDATE: Devin Faraci wrote a big article on CHUD that pulls together all the pieces known so far.