Yes We Can! Chris Evans Is Captain America - Page 2

Yeah, I also liked Hildalgo. The thing that bought it the most credit with me--outside of Viggo's performance--is that the Middle Eastern romantic interest actually looks like a Middle-Eastern woman who lives in the desert, not a Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Edition model, but she still looks okay. That was a really, really nice touch on the director's part.

The Rain Dog, The Rocketeer is...Awesome, and it is also Joe Johnstons best film. The Rocketeer has it all, great lead, beautiful leading lady, EEEEEEEEEEEvil Villain and a Nazi to boot in Timothy Dalton.

That said...Captain America should trump...The Rocketeer. Now if only...When Captain America Throws His Mighty Shield theme from The Marvel Superheroes Cartoon, could be incorperated into the film, that would be the icing on the cake. I would love to see Cap deck Hitler, just like the cover of his first appearance.

Personally Duke, I'd give the 'Johnstons Best Movie' trophy to The Wolfman, hopefully coming off that he's on a roll.

The Rain Dog, To each ones own. If we all liked the same thing, the world would be a pretty boring place. I however will not be...Howling, in exultation for The Wolfman, unless it was a biography of...Wolfman Jack!

Amen Duke. It'd be nice if more people subscribed to that thinking.

Given that he was hired to pretty much point and shoot for a production entirely of another person's design and vision, isn't identifying it as his best film kind of a massive insult to Johnston?

Damn great that Evans took the role. Can't wait to see him interact with RDJ.

Possibly but I don't think he's that good a director to begin with. It wasn't meant as a back handed compliment, but I guess it was really.

Seconded.

What are the definitive Cap stories? Are there any?

Isn't the one where Bucky carks it pretty definitive? Or has that been rewritten a few times?

The costume is key. Ears sticking out won't be flattering to anyone.



This is easier to handle:

Oh man, there are tons... his origin, of course. And the "death" of Bucky, which threw him into suspended animation.

Then there's the Sleeper Saga, the first big Cosmic Cube and Red Skull story...

The problem with most of Cap's big sagas are that they'd be tough to pull off in a movie without more movie-based Marvel history. Except for the Sleepers... that could be set up in his first movie, while he's in WW2, and then brought back in the present day.

Darkmite... did you HAVE to throw that stupid Halloween costume at us, just as we're celebrating a little bit of GOOD Cap news?!?!

Variety is saying 4 movies, not 9.

That's understandable. If The Avengers is saddled with characters whose own films have bombed (ThorI'mlookingatyou), then Marvel may be hedging their bets some.

This is great news.

I hadn't heard/read Channing Tatum was in the running. He'll probably end up in a Direct to DVD movie for US Agent.

I had actually forgot about US Agent. I wonder if they'd even consider using him, given all the Cold War baggage that the character has.

If they start out with the Ultimates WW2 costume and then maybe go into the redesigned costume seen in Ultimates 2 for the modern Cap outfit (which was really more of an updated version of the costume worn by Cap in his first several years of publication) that works for me.

Or Johnston could say fuck everybody and go retro in a way that no one sees coming...




Also, though I want to keep this kind of thing to a minimum, since Captain America is sort of a de facto Uncle Sam for WW2 America, I always thought it would be neat in a big screen version to have a scene where a bunch of kids are actually watching the old not terribly faithful 1944 serial in a movie theater. It would be a great way to show how he's gotten into the blood stream of a nation.

Rain Dog hates America, puppies, mom's apple pie, and "Born to Run," so of course he hates The Rocketeer. No surprise.

this is also do-able:

Would love to see Evans done this look/shield for part of the flick.
That said, cheers, everyone!

Also, who's gonna play Bucky?
Because I say go Brubaker with the characterization and gimme Casey Affleck; his Winter Soldier would be aces.

I'm a true socialist nazi who's all about social justice - what can I say?

I honestly don't hate The Rocketeer - I nothing The Rocketeer. It's the epitome of 'meh' like most of Johnstons films.

Ben Foster probably didn't even get a chance to audition for Cap, but I like him for Bucky, too. Although knowing Hollywood, they'll probably cast Taylor Launter.

On that point I will disagree with you, because there is nothing "meh" about the following, the following is beyond "meh", the interjection "meh" is non-existent in the presence of the following...

So very happy with this casting. Soon as I heard Evans' was in the mix it felt obvious it should be him.
Justin Bieber.

"Meh" does not apply to Jennifer Connely as a pseudo Betty Page pin up girl.
Also, I knew you were part of these guys:


J´Accuse!

Also, Timothy Dalton as Nazi Erroll Flynn. Rondo Hatton as the henchman. Alan Arkin. Genuine danger for the kiddies. Motherfucking Terry O'Quinn as Howard Hughes ("It does fly.") Nazi Rocketeers landing on the capitol, cartoon style. And, of course, "I may not make an honest buck, but I'm 100 percent American."

James Horner's score. Jenny Connelly's back. And that brilliant shot of him standing on the roof of the Planetarium. That one shot alone gives me hope for Captain America.

Sorry Rath I got about halfway through that and heard nothing but the blood in my ears. Next thing I knew I found I'd fallen asleep on my keyboard for a minute. The flick just doesn't do much for me. It's a great idea that not enough is done with. Flick needs at least two more major action beats in the middle to fix the terrible drag.

Yes there's the Connolly factor, but I prefer her in other movies. At least in other bland nothing flicks like Mullholland Falls she was both retro classical looking and naked.

I loved the '90s mini-series that retold his origin. The title was The Adventures of Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty. But it could've just been the art by Kevin MacGuire that I really loved. The version of Bucky in the mini was pretty cool. I remember the best part being the pre-Cap stuff and the story losing steam once it got to WWII. Which means it would be a great place to start and improve upon.

***does happy dance***

What a huuuuge relief!

I'm officially excited for this film.

You gotta admit he has a point there, Rath.

I rather liked the Neiber/Cassaday series, warts and all; story is not much, but its shock full of little great moments.
Also, anything by Steranko, dammit!


EDit: There's also the Roger Stern/john Byrne series, which has the Union Jack team up against Baron Blood.

As for Johnston's credentials for this project....

Haven't seen that before, but I love the painted wings on the helmet. That's actually a clever way of dealing with them - not that Evans won't remove his helmet or chain mail hood or whatever for the big action finale.

I love, LOVE the Rocketeer and let it be known that there is little doubt in my mind that Joe Johnston can do Captain America. That being said, the guy has been a little lackluster since he left the Speilberg nest.

I know that this is really early in the game, but I was wondering today if this film could be the least-grossing of the comic-book films due simply to the name. Captain America, especially in today's climate, may not make as much bank in foreign markets as Iron Man or Spiderman. I hope that this isn't the case.

If it's good and not overly jingoistic it's got a much better chance at success than Thor I'd argue.

That's doubtful - it could still bomb, but Punisher: War Zone will probably be holding on to the title of 'least grossing comic book film' for good long while.

Marvel's been thinking about that since they decided to make the movie. That's why they're going with the title THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA and having him team up with an international group of heroes.

Great choice. That's one bullet dodged. 29 more in the magazine.

*doesn't leave you hanging*

I agree with Reasor about the painted wings; that's a great touch. I don't want to see the costume too grim, though. I get where there are artists who really want to dial up the "soldier" aspect of his togs, but I don't want his look to be X-Men'd. That worked for what it was. This is something else entirely.

As I said elsewhere: Not the best choice (though I probably couldn't come up with a better name that fits the casting criteria the producers were shooting for), but far from the worst. A good middle-ground choice that's probably not going to set the internet on fire either way (at least not any more so than any comic book casting decision does). For me personally I'd say I'm falling on the side of "positive" for the most part.

I'm kind of surprised at the undercurrent of skepticism about Thor and this film. I'd argue that it's Cap that's the tougher sell, but Marvel already successfully marketed one of their second-tier characters into major box office success with Iron Man, and there's still a huge amount of buzz on the whole "Avengers" thing (just look at all the media coverage this casting process has been getting). I know people like to keep predicting that the "superhero bubble will burst" but I just don't see it. Iron Man 2 is probably going to be good, and a strong contender for highest grossing film of 2010, and at least a little of that should feed into Thor and Captain America next year.

They might not do as well as Iron Man, but I think they'll be solid.

Yeah, you have to find a balance because if you get too far away from "guy that dresses up in the American flag" you're losing the concept entirely.

It's not that I don't think THOR won't be good. It's just that I look at a Kenneth Branagh-directed Gods 'n' monster comic-book adaptation starring an unknown lead and my brain has an automatic response of "how in fuck are they going to pull this off?".

Yeah unless its marketed really cleverly I just see an already superhero burned out public giving a gigantic 'what-the-fuck?' when it comes to Thor.

Once again...people talk about "Superhero Burn Out" like it's a real and demonstrable phenomenon but is there really that much evidence that it's affecting box office takes? Even that crapfest Wolverine movie ended up being in the top 20 highest-grossing films of last year, and an inordinate amount of people I would normally consider reasonably sane claim to have enjoyed it. The year prior the top two highest-grossing films were "superhero movies." To say nothing of the overarching sci-fi/fantasy genre which continues to dominate the highest-grossing slots every year.

There have always been degrees of success to the various superhero films, and generally the ones that are marketed well (as any of the Avengers franchise films will most likely be) do pretty well. It tends to be the lower-budget or more niche fare that's not as successful.

Um how much mainstream exposure do you think the character of Thor - especially one played by a complete unknown - has exactly?

Wolverine is a)a huge Marvel character and b)already well-established in the film world thanks to Jackman and the X franchise. THOR is neither of those things. He's DAREDEVIL or ELECKTRA or PUNISHER. There's a massive divide between the big-gun superheroes and the b-teamers in terms of cinematic success, and so far only IRON MAN has managed to cross it.

...and that was thanks to a star the entire world was ready and wanting to embrace again after a long absence I'd argue.

I'm really curious/worried about the tone of Thor. Even in the Marvel U. he was always an odd fit. I'm hoping for more a gritty, Viking, but with magic and monsters tone, rather than a Shakespeare-speak rainbow world.

And how will he fit into the world Iron Man has established? How will the world react when Tony Stark is fighting side-by-side with an actual God? (I like the route the Ultimates took - is he a god? Or just a very powerful crazy person? Ultimates 2 answered that question, but the movie world could hedge their bets.)

And a slick marketing campaign by the same people that will probably be marketing Thor and Captain America. Play up the connections to the rest of the "Cinematic Marvel Universe" and pop Sam Jackson's mug into a couple of the trailers and people will turn up.

Thor is also more mainstream than Daredevil or Electra by a pretty significant margin. He may not get quite as much play as Captain America or Iron Man in terms of pop-culture/mass media references, but he's not as completely unknown as you're making out.

Still waiting for that proof of the "Superhero burn out" you seem to take for granted, though.