Captain America's shield detected in Iron Man:

Stan Lee: Will Smith a "Long Shot" for 'Captain America'

At age 85, Stan Lee is seeing a renaissance of comic book characters he created 30, 40, and almost 50 years ago. Among his superheroes that have made the transition to films are Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men, Hulk, Daredevil, and Fantastic Four, with Thor on the Marvel Comics to-do list for 2010.



Moviefone recently chatted with Lee about the past and the future of these characters. He talks about being in the shadow of The Dark Knight this summer, though he says all it means to him is that Iron Man 2 will have to outgross the next Batman movie.

And while he says that he's not in the loop on the high-level discussions anymore, he anticipates full cooperation from the current Marvel stars when it comes to The Avengers.



I agree that I want Edward Norton to get a sequel, I just don't think audiences give much of a rip about the Hulk. I mean, Iron Man has made more money than both Hulk movies combined. Earlier this month, Norton expressed a little frustration over his dealings with Marvel, and one of our readers commented that for The Avengers, it might make more sense just to use a CGI Hulk and avoid Banner altogether. That's not a bad option, really.

Lee also addressed one of the more unlikely rumors of the summer: Will Smith as Captain America. For the record, I can't think of anyone better. Marvel needs stars for these roles, and he's guaranteed box office, the biggest star in the world. Does it matter that he's not a white guy? Not to me. I understand wanting to be faithful to the story, but it's not like this would be the first time Marvel fudged its own history to sell tickets (*cough* Spider-Man 3). If you've got a better action hero, go ahead and nominate him.

Stan has his opinion, too:



Hm. Maybe not the best way to phrase that, but the contention seems to be that Smith can't do it because he's black. Personally, I don't buy that, because there's nothing "white" about Captain America, meaning the character's race doesn't determine the character, just as Will Smith's Hancock or Robert Neville doesn't need to be black.

It's probably a dead issue at this point, but all the same, it's interesting to hear Stan's take.

Captain America Will Fight Nazis



We’ve just updated our Upcoming Movies section with a plot synopsis for The First Avenger: Captain America, as provided by Production Weekly. The synopsis reveals some interesting things about Marvel’s plans for Cap. It looks like the movie will be a period piece, not a modern updating of Captain America’s origins. Or at the very least, we’re going to spend a significant amount of time watching Steve Rogers before and during World War II.

Full plot breakdown: Born during the Great Depression, Steve Rogers grew up a frail youth in a poor family. Horrified by the newsreel footage of the Nazis in Europe,Rogers was inspired to enlist in the army. However, because of his frailty and sickness, he was rejected. Overhearing the boy's earnest plea,General Chester Phillips offered Rogers the opportunity to take part in a special experiment... Operation: Rebirth. After weeks of tests, Rogers was at last administered the Super-Solider Serum and bombarded by "vita-rays." Steve Rogers emerged from the treatment with a body as perfect as a body can be and still be human. Rogers was then put through an intensive physical and tactical training program. Three months later,he was given his first assignment as Captain America. Armed with his indestructible shield and battle savvy, Captain America has continued hiswar against evil both as a sentinel of liberty and as leader of the Avengers.

Doing it as a period piece sort of makes sense, when you consider the odd “First Avenger” title and the fact that the actual The Avengers team-up movie is currently scheduled to hit theaters only a couple of months after Captain America’s solo movie debuts. The First Avenger hits theaters on May 6th, while The Avengers arrives on July 15th.

my goodness....what have you been drinking?

Does Channing Tatum Want to Play Captain America?



Last week, I had the chance to visit the set of Dear John, Lasse Hallström's adaptation of Nicholas' Sparks heartbreaking novel. I'll get to tell you all about the visit and the movie at a later date, so keep an eye out. In the meantime, though, I thought I'd tease fandom with a Captain America soundbite. While talking to the film's leading man, Channing Tatum, I couldn't resist asking him if he'd play the First Avenger, mentioning that at least one reader had nominated him for the part last week. Surprisingly, that reader isn't the first one to think of him for the part -- a crew member tried to soften him up, too! Here's his unvarnished response:

"Captain America? Oh my God! Oddly enough, I just got given a book – one of the painters came up and here gave me a book. I would think about it. Maybe it's destiny! I would definitely think about it – I just got done doing G.I. Joe, though. If Joe does well, and it doesn't seem to be the exact same story, then I would. I don't know. They seem to be very, very similar – almost identical. Except for the – I think he takes a serum? Like a strength serum? [But the WWII setting] could be very very cool. "

So, there you have it. Tatum is definitely a bit reluctant to jump into the All American Hero mold again -- but it is Captain America, which is a pretty tempting superhero for any actor to play. I'll freely admit a bit of bias in saying that Tatum has risen on my personal "Who should play Cap?" list, because he certainly has the right personal qualities. He's a genuine, stand-up guy -- there's a reason Hollywood is itching to have him play in uniform so often. And hey, there's worse things than being typecast as the heroic soldier!

'Captain America' enlists two scribes
Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely in negotiations



Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are in negotiations to pen Marvel Studios' "First Avenger: Captain America." The dealmaking occurs about a week after Joe Johnston boarded the project as director.

Marvel's Kevin Feige is producing.

Created in 1941 by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon for Timely Comics, Captain America is the heroic alter ego of Steve Rogers, who is rejected by the Army for being too sickly and undergoes an experiment that takes him to the pinnacle of human form. Paired with an indestructible shield, he becomes a symbol of the war effort, fighting Nazis and villainous scientists like the Red Skull.

In modern times, the character starred in his own long-running comic series and also was a charter member of Marvel's superteam, the Avengers.

Kicking off with "Iron Man," Marvel Studios' slate of movies -- including "Thor" and the "Iron Man" sequel -- is building toward an "Avengers" movie set for release in 2011, in which the characters from the films team for one big adventure. "Captain America" is scheduled for release May 6, 2011.

Marvel's "Captain America" will be a World War II-set movie, and the character will appear in the modern day-set "Avengers."

Markus and McFeely, repped by UTA, worked on "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and its sequel, "Prince Caspian." The duo also wrote HBO's "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers."

CapAm starts in June



I’m growing increasingly puzzled about the lack of any info about the CAPTAIN AMERICA movie, allegedly slated to come out just after THOR in 2011. THOR has everyone down to Valhalla’s gardeners cast at this point, whereas CAPTAIN doesn’t even have the title role filled. Or even really RUMORS of having the title role filled.

But one tiny morsel of information came loose during director Joe Johnston’s interview with Fangoria.

"… recalls Johnston, speaking from the art department of The First Avenger: Captain America, which he's readying for a June start."

Hooray! A start date! For reference, THOR starts shooting in January, but as I said, it’s got a full script and cast where CAPTAIN AMERICA is presumably still working up a list of all the blonde actors in Hollywood. Hopefully we’ll start hearing more about this soon, otherwise I feel like we’re definitely going to see the project being pushed back.

Extra Tidbit: I’m curious to see how they’re going to choreograph shield-centric fight scenes

CAPTAIN AMERICA'S INTERNATIONAL CO-STARS: THE INVADERS



Yesterday I talked with The First Avenger: Captain America director Joe Johnston at the press day for The Wolfman, and he revealed to me that The Invaders were going to be a major presence in the film. 'They'll be in the entire second half,' he said.

EXCLUSIVE: Who Will Be Captain America?



UPDATE: I've learned that Marvel Studios and director Joe Johnston are testing candidates for The First Avenger: Captain America which Paramount will distribute on July 22, 2011. I’ve scooped their wish list: most but by no means all of the contenders are young hunks who come from both movies and television --

Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights)

Mike Vogel (Cloverfield)

Michael Cassidy (Privileged)

Patrick Flueger (Brothers)

Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl)

John Krasinski (The Office)

They also wanted Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy), but he so far hasn’t made a test deal. The studio yesterday tested several candidates from this list. It's not surprising that the roster contains so many little known actors: Marvel after all cast a complete unknown as Thor, Chris Hemsworth. The role is enticing, but Marvel is known for driving hard bargains on its superhero deals. There's a salary scale, but if you're not a known quantity like Crawford or Krasinski, the offer is around $300,000 for the first film. And whoever gets the role will have to sign for another nine options for future films that include sequels, Avengers movies, or anything else Marvel decides. In fact, I’m told reliably that Captain America director Johnston recently reached an impasse with Marvel and briefly walked off the film when Marvel informed him the budget was too high and he’d have to take a pay cut. They found common ground and he returned to the fold, but it reinforces Marvel’s reputation for hard bargaining, something that all the Iron Man 2 participants discovered. For those  not in the know, Captain America is Steve Rogers, a military service washout who volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into the superhero dedicated to defending America's ideals. The sickly young man is enhanced to the peak of human potential by an experimental serum: he's known for using his signature vibranium-steel allow shield as a multipurpose weapon.

UPDATED: CAPTAIN AMERICA IS NOT BEING DELAYED



UPDATE: I just heard back from some folks at Marvel at they categorically, up and down, completely and without hesitation deny that there is any delay on The First Avenger: Captain America or that the production is any trouble. Everything is moving forward right now, they tell me. As I suspected this story looks to be just a bullshit rumor that got spread by the internet, as bullshit rumors do, and it holds no water.

Is This the Official Synopsis for THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA? And is Filming Set to Begin June 28, 2010?

The synopsis for The First Avenger: Captain America might have been released thanks to a casting announcement on featurecasting.com.  Also, thanks to the same release, it’s looking like filming is set to begin on June 28, 2010.  With a release date of July 22, 2011, and the fact that director Joe Johnston recently told me he’s busy in pre-production, the filming date sounds pretty accurate.

If you’re interested in reading the synopsis, hit the jump:

Here’s what was posted:

Born during the Great Depression, Steve Rogers grew up a frail youth in a poor family. Horrified by the newsreel footage of the Nazis in Europe, Rogers was inspired to enlist in the army. However, because of his frailty and sickness, he was rejected.

Overhearing the boy’s earnest plea, General Chester Phillips offered Rogers the opportunity to take part in a special experiment… Operation: Rebirth. After weeks of tests, Rogers was at last administered the Super-Solider Serum and bombarded by ‘vita-rays.’

Steve Rogers emerged from the treatment with a body as perfect as a body can be and still be human. Rogers was then put through an intensive physical and tactical training program.

Three months later, he was given his first assignment as Captain America. Armed with his indestructible shield and battle savvy, Captain America has continued his war against evil both as a sentinel of liberty and as leader of the Avengers.

If you’ve read the comics, this sounds dead on.  The thing to realize is…this isn’t going to be the final synopsis for the film, but one they can send out to casting agencies without giving away the movie.  Notice no mention of who Captain America fights or what happens after he becomes a super soldier.  But for now…it’s something.

With Joe Johnston telling me he was hoping to have casting done by March 1, expect the person who will play Captain America to be revealed any day now.  John Krasinski, Scott Porter, Garrett Hedlund, Jensen Ackles, Chace Crawford, Michael Cassidy, and Mike Vogel are all on the list as potential leads.  More as we get it.

FOX411 Exclusive: 'Captain America' role is John Krasinski's to lose, source says



John Krasinski is getting even closer to nabbing the role that could propel him into action hero stardom ... Captain America!

Insiders at the Marvel compound tell Fox 411 that he is close to landing the superhero gig of his life.  John, who plays Jim on "The Office," has appeared in front of producers repeatedly since the start of the new year and since rumors began in February.

"John has read 4 times and is doing screen tests," our source tells us.  "He has screen tested 2 times so far.  It's very likely that he will be the new Captain America.  He is a favorite among the key decision makers and has been asked to come back for more this week."

At this point, Krasinski is the main focus at Marvel.

"The big bosses are having him read with multiple actresses up for the female leads.  They want to lock down the role and then they will narrow down everyone else."

Unfortunately, "The Office" star is not the chosen one for many comic fans who work for Marvel.

"It's a surprise and we are bracing ourselves for 'that guy from 'The Office'' to land Captain America.  They are not really looking at the other guys, so it's time to get ready to work with him."

"If John gets offered the role, the pay will not be outrageous but it would be a multi-film deal.  Marvel has big plans to tie the movies together and John would have parts in all of them since the first Captain America will be an origin story.  The movie will break down how Steve Rogers becomes Captain America. "

"The First Avenger: Captain America" is slated to be released by Paramount on July 22, 2011.

Louis Leterrier Explains How He'd Approach 'The Avengers'

"Incredible Hulk" director Louis Leterrier recently revealed that he's on the short list of potential directors for "The Avengers,"

"It all starts with the ensemble... the cast," said Leterrier. "It's all about the cast. It's all about the characters. You have to find the way to enter the movie through the cast."

"With 'Avengers' it would be a little different, because a lot of the cast would have been casted by different directors from other movies, but you can still bring everybody together," he added. "That's what we did that was great on 'Clash of the Titans' — for the first three weeks, we brought everybody into a room and we workshopped the movie."

Captain America may lead the way for Marvel movies filmed in 3-D



If "Iron Man 2" had come out late in the summer, Tony Stark might have soared right out of the screen. And don't be surprised if Captain America's shield or even Thor's hammer comes flying at you in a dark theater in the seasons to come.

In an interview Sunday about the huge $133.6-million opening of "Iron Man 2," Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige admitted he and his team had considered converting the superhero sequel into 3-D after seeing the success of "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland."

Given the extensive demands of post-production on "Iron Man 2," however, they concluded there simply wasn't enough time.



"We couldn't have turned over a version of the movie 10 or 20 weeks earlier for 3-D conversion without undermining the quality," he said. "We used all the time we had for mixing and editing and discovering the right tone."

Don Cheadle, one of stars of the film, said director Jon Favreau and his cast were "making changes while the paint was still wet" trying to find the appropriate presentation of the relationship between his character, Lt. Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes, and Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). Rhodey steals Stark's high-tech armor and becomes the hero War Machine. But Favreau and his team were making last-minute changes to dialogue and making edits to ensure that audiences would be sympathetic to both the stern military man and his freewheeling billionaire buddy.

With three Marvel movies in the works over the next two years, however, Feige hinted that 3-D may be in the cards for some or all of them.

"The team has been doing a lot of research into 3-D processes, and we're looking at it on future films when we have the time," he said. "We will be doing it at some point."

"Thor" is already in production, meaning it would have to be converted into 3-D in post, but "First Avenger: Captain America" and "The Avengers" could potentially be filmed with 3-D cameras. The massive success of James Cameron's "Avatar" has stirred a 3-D sensation in Hollywood that some compare to a gold rush and others worry might just be herd mentality. Upcoming 3-D films include Martin Scorsese's "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," "Stretch Armstrong" and Sony's "Spider-Man" reboot

I've seen Captain America's costume and this is what it looks like!



Some superhero costumes, like Iron Man, make fairly easy transitions to the world of movies. Others, like Captain America, prove to be a little more difficult. What works in the comics doesn't always work well with an actor actually having to wear that costume. So I've been curious to see how they were going to adapt the Captain America suit for Chris Evans to resemble the original design but work within the WWII world that Joe Johnston is creating for the film. I got an exclusive look at one of the approved costume tests for CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER and while I can't pass along anything here, I can describe to you what I saw.

Captain America will have two different costumes in the film, according to Johnston. He told the LA Times that he'll have a costume designed by the Army for his initial USO appearances that's slightly more flashy and a nod to the original design. As he gets called into active duty though, Steve Rogers (who hated the original suit design), creates a new costume that's more battle-ready. This second costume is the one I saw and will the primary costume for the film.

The first thing I noticed is that the trademark wings that flank the side of Cap's hood are gone. In fact the "hood" is gone entirely. In its place is a more traditional M1 Army helmet though this helmet does come over the eyes to give Cap a traditional "domino mask" look. Still present is the white "A" in the middle of the hat (nothing fancy, this is the traditional font), though like the rest of the costume, the blue of the helmet is much more muted than the blue in the comic costume. A thick black strap comes down over the ears and connects under the chin.

Cap is wearing a blue neck piece but from what I saw, it's hard to tell if this is connected to something under the helmet or whether it's something like a turtleneck (I'm gonna guess the latter).


The many looks of Captain America

On his chest still lies the white star though it's not as prominent as the comic version. The costume is still split horizontally through the middle with blue on top and red and white stripes on the bottom. But instead of stripes, it's actually just a white base with two red utility straps acting as stripes. These straps affix to a metal loop at the midpoint of the chest and a black strap extends up to the shoulders from that point.

His shoulders have pads over them that extend down to about mid-bicep and are attached via a brown strap under the arm. The sleeves (for lack of a better word) are white with a fairly standard brown glove.

The fabric of the costume doesn't look like the scaled material of SPIDER-MAN but more of a leather fabric, like something you'd see on one of the X-MEN. Cap wears an old school utility belt, the likes of which we haven't seen much in modern superhero movies. Utility belts were a staple of comic superheroes but haven't made the transition but here Cap sports a rather thick belt made up of brown pockets with a silver buckle.

It actually looks something like the belt on this Captain America toy.


As you might expect, there's no codpiece to be found and Cap is wearing blue pants tucked into brown utility boots. The pants aren't skin tight but they aren't baggy either. And for those who are curious, the pants actually have a fly so Cap can take a leak if he needs to.

The suit actually has a practical WWII military look to it with some of the obvious Captain America flourishes that we would expect. It's hard to really pass judgment on a costume until you see it properly lit, in motion and doing what it's meant to do. But based on what I saw, I'm pretty impressed with how they were able to adapt the costume for the film.

As for the shield, it actually hews very closely to the classic design of red/white/red rings with the white star in a blue circle at the middle.

Fan sketches of Captain America costume!

Last Friday, I posted a description of the CAPTAIN AMERICA costume after I was able to see how it would look in the film. Sadly I was unable to pass along any photographic evidence and had to rely on words to describe how it would look. That could at times get confusing but a few artistic JoBlo.com readers have stepped in to help out with their interpretations!

Below I've posted three of the best submissions. They're all pretty close to what I saw though everyone seems to have the straps a little off. The helmet on the first sketch below is actually shockingly accurate with the only difference being that you can't see Cap's ear in the film's costume.

Check out the fanart below and if you feel inspired to create, you can post below or drop me an e-mail.