http://www.getthebigpicture.net/blog/2008/...in-america.html

Rumor of the Day: Will Smith as Captain America?



It's nearly impossible to say whether or not this is true (I'm squarely in Camp False at the moment) but there's a rumor that Marvel, at one point, offered the role of Captain America to Will Smith.

Sitting down with MTV to talk about his Spike Lee movie Miracle at St. Anna, Derek Luke commented on the rumor, and as far as I can tell, started the rumor as well.

“I heard they offered Will Smith Captain America," said Luke. "Just shows you how times have changed."

I haven't heard word one about this anywhere else, but definitely something to think about. Cap is an iconic character for Marvel, although he's not the easiest one to suit up for a movie. Smith is the biggest movie star on the planet bar none. So why wouldn't this work?

Well, a lot of people would say it's because Smith is black and the character is white, which is like saying Rock Hudson never should have played a leading man to Doris Day because he was a homosexual. Plus, Marvel has already shown a willingness to do the same thing with less popular figures in their Universe; both Nick Fury and Kingpin are white in the comic books, and have been portrayed by African-Americans on film. It's just not a big deal, because the movies are, despite how much of the story they roll into their scripts, interpretations of the original comic books.

Removing race from it, who's better than Will Smith for this role? I gotta tell ya: I don't think anyone is. He's a huge star, which is more important in this case than it is with Spider-Man (especially with the lackluster performance of both Hulk movies), he's a very good actor and an even better action star, and he's likable. That's what you need for Captain America, not necessarily a blonde dude.

Think about it: Facing a tsunami called The Dark Knight two weeks after its release, Smith's Hancock, which received so-so reviews at best, was still the the number four movie of the summer. Combine his worldwide cash for Hancock and I am Legend, and he's responsible for over $1.1 billion in the past nine months. A purely unfounded rumor? Very likely. But the more I think about it, the more I like it.