Captain America (2009)

[bac0n]

Looks like this is going to be one of Marvel's releases for summer next year.

Nick Cassavetes (Alpha Dog, The Notebook) is going to direct. No idea who's going to play the titular role, tho if it turns out to be John Cena, as some on the imdb board would like to see, I'm moving to Canada.

Too early to formulate an opinion, but I'm not sure I like Nick C as the director of a movie about one of my favorite super heroes.

IMDB Page (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458339/)

[Sycophant]

David Self is attached as screenwriter. He did Road to Perdition. That's not a bad thing, by my estimate.

*knows nothing about Captain America*

[Ezee E]

BEN FOSTER can reteam with Nick!!!!!!

[Watashi]

Ben Foster would actually make a decent Bucky.

I've been lobbying for Damon as Steve Rogers especially in his Bourne mold.

[bac0n]

Ben Foster would actually make a decent Bucky.

I've been lobbying for Damon as Steve Rogers especially in his Bourne mold.

Wow, I can totally see Matt Damon as Steve Rogers / Captain America.

[DavidSeven]

Nick Cassavetes (Alpha Dog, The Notebook)

Pass.

[ledfloyd]

Please adapt Brubakers run!

Nick Cassavetes is a pretty lame choice though. I'd like umm... hmm. Paul Greengrass maybe? Matt Damon could make a decent Steve Rogers.

[dreamdead]

Cassavetes still hasn't managed anything beyond passable yet. As a result, I'm cool with this project not wasting a better director's time. I don't see any way for this film to achieve anything spectacular, so this just makes it easier to pass on the project from the get-go.

[Watashi]

Cassavetes still hasn't managed anything beyond passable yet. As a result, I'm cool with this project not wasting a better director's time. I don't see any way for this film to achieve anything spectacular, so this just makes it easier to pass on the project from the get-go.

:|

Captain America probably has some of the best material to make an amazing film out of.

[ledfloyd]

:|

Captain America probably has some of the best material to make an amazing film out of.
agreed.

brubaker's current run on caps has been a top notch political thriller. i would love to see someone suited to that material direct it. hopefully without shaky cam or editors on crack. but greengrass or gilroy could do great with it. verhoeven maybe?

[megladon8]

Brad Pitt has been pining for the role for years.

Is he past that now?

[ledfloyd]

if only robert redford was 20 years younger.

[Eleven]

Matt Salinger's still around.

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/1170/captainsw5.jpg

[number8]

A political thriller in the vein of Brubaker's work would be an excellent sequel, but I don't think it fits the mold of an origin story.

And before we say we're tired of origin stories, out of all the superheroes, Cap has one of the most dramatic origin stories and could potentially be an amazing period piece with a really strong emotional core. They can even adapt the "Red White & Black" story of how the Super-Soldier serum was first tested on black soldiers and killed a bunch of them before it was ready for Steve Rogers to consume.

A few years ago I wrote up a treatment for a Captain America movie, and the first thing that I tried to stress and really play up was Steve Rogers as an idealistic young man who believed that going to war was the right thing to do, that defending America's freedom was not even a choice, but a duty. Then he gets frozen in ice and wakes up in the middle of Bush's War on Terror.

It's a slightly dated concept today, admittedly, but I'd still like to see something along the lines of that brevity. What's most important about the character is that he's representing a country. You CANNOT just make a superhero dukefest out of him. It would be a gigantic waste.

[megladon8]

I'm still really grateful to number8 for turning me around to liking Captain America.

I used to have the (admittedly uninformed) opinion that he was "lame" and represented the "blind American patriotism" which I hate so much. But I really couldn't have been more wrong.

He's a great character, and one of the most sympathetic in either universe (Marvel or DC).

[Ezee E]

I've never gotten into Captain America. Shame.

[Grouchy]

Jim Caviezel would be a great Captain America with the hair dyed blond. I don't know if he has enough muscle, though.

[bac0n]

Wow, I totally love your take on Cap, Number 8. I would totally line up to see that movie. I agree that the 30s/40s would be a good place to start.

Cap has always been a great barometer of the times he was in, like back in the 70s I think it was when he became disillusioned with the government and had that stint as Nomad, after which he had a sorta epiphany that, as Captain America, he should stand for the idea of America, (you know, the truth, liberty, justice for all, pursuit of happiness, etc.) instead of America itself, and emerged from that as a better hero and a better person.

His progression from blind patriot to a more, shall we say, enlightened perspective has some pretty cool possibilities.

[number8]

Exactl, bac0n. They did that with Cap following Watergate, and my idea was to basically adapt that transformation more immediately into his second origin story. Stan Lee's idea to reintroduce Cap in the 60's, with him being a disoriented walking anachronism in the hippie era was already a strong story, but what if you also add in an element that he wakes up in a strange America he doesn't recognize (or agree with)? What if this patriot, this war hero, wakes up and he sees the American government doing things that he is absolutely against? It's a fascinating story to tell.

[Grouchy]

Even if they don't make it as politically charged as 8 or bac0n want, I think they simply HAVE to go with Cap being frozed at the end of World War II and waking up in modern times (XXIth century). It's practically a script that writes itself.

[D_Davis]

This guy, from Boston Legal

http://z.about.com/d/tvcomedies/1/0/l/-/-/-/brad_chase.jpg

[bac0n]

Wow, he certainly has the look for the role.

[D_Davis]

Wow, he certainly has the look for the role.

Yeah - I've thought so for some time.

[Morris Schæffer]

This guy, from Boston Legal

http://z.about.com/d/tvcomedies/1/0/l/-/-/-/brad_chase.jpg

And before that, Days of Our Lives.:lol:;)

[ledfloyd]

This guy, from Boston Legal

http://z.about.com/d/tvcomedies/1/0/l/-/-/-/brad_chase.jpg

that IS steve rogers.

[megladon8]

I can't seem to find any recent stuff regarding Brad Pitt's interest in the role...so I am assuming he has moved on.

[Morris Schæffer]

Well, for what it's worth, Brad Pitt doesn't grow older. Regular folks do, but he does not.

[ledfloyd]

I was thinking last night Marvel hasn't picked a director yet that's made me go "wow, that's perfect." Favreau sounded like a terrible choice to me at first, the trailers have swung me the other way, we'll see. I still don't like Leterrier on Hulk. Cassavetes on Caps seems pretty bad too. No one like Nolan on Batman that just feels right.

[Ezee E]

I was thinking last night Marvel hasn't picked a director yet that's made me go "wow, that's perfect." Favreau sounded like a terrible choice to me at first, the trailers have swung me the other way, we'll see. I still don't like Leterrier on Hulk. Cassavetes on Caps seems pretty bad too. No one like Nolan on Batman that just feels right.
Bryan Singer and Sam Raimi don't work?

[ledfloyd]

Bryan Singer and Sam Raimi don't work?
i was thinking of the ones they've done since they've been a studio. i'm not a singer fan, but raimi did well on the first two spiderflicks.

[KK2.0]

I've never gotten into Captain America. Shame.

I never cared about Captain America but depending on how the movie will turn, maybe i'll catch a glimpse. I felt the same about Iron Man and now i'm interested.

[Saya]

MTV is reporting that Will Smith has been offered the role of Captain America (http://splashpage.mtv.com/2008/09/08/exclusive-is-will-smith-the-new-captain-america/)

It's probably a bogus rumor, but would it work?

[EyesWideOpen]

MTV is reporting that Will Smith has been offered the role of Captain America (http://splashpage.mtv.com/2008/09/08/exclusive-is-will-smith-the-new-captain-america/)

It's probably a bogus rumor, but would it work?

of course it could work as long as his wise cracking is kept to a minimum but i doubt it will.

[number8]

It's bullcrap. Remember, Will Smith said that thing about not wanting to play white heroes?

[megladon8]

It's bullcrap. Remember, Will Smith said that thing about not wanting to play white heroes?


Didn't stop him from playing Neville.

[number8]

Did the book ever describe Neville as a white man?

[megladon8]

Did the book ever describe Neville as a white man?


It never says "he is a white man", but other descriptors make it pretty clear, especially the blue eyes, brown hair, etc.

He was also white in the Matheson co-written graphic novel. And white in all the film adaptations up to this latest one.

Though I admit, the colour of Neville's skin doesn't matter much to the thematics of the story, especially when the story was town apart in every other way for the movie.

[The Mike]

I'd accept Derek Luke as Cap.

Smith and Sam Jackson in the same movie is a bad idea anyway.

[megladon8]

I think Will Smith would do a better job than Matthew McConaughey.

[Dukefrukem]

I think Will Smith would do a better job than Matthew McConaughey.

Of course he would. McConaughey's films are completely shit. Every single one of them. I can't believe people still hire him. WHen I hear his name, the first thing that comes to mind is when Stewie Griffin was telling him off;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HGeB3SymKs

[megladon8]

Frailty and Lone Star were good, but not because of him.

[The Mike]

I like McConaughey, but not as Cap.

[Ezee E]

He's just got a bad agent. I don't mind him as an actor.

[Grouchy]

It looks like at ANY point in ANY casting, Will Smith is brought up.

I think Will Smith will simply continue making Will Smith movies. The kind of movies in which Will Smith is the star, not a popular character over 50 years old.

[bac0n]

It looks like at ANY point in ANY casting, Will Smith is brought up.

I think Will Smith will simply continue making Will Smith movies. The kind of movies in which Will Smith is the star, not a popular character over 50 years old.

Yeah, I agree. I would personally find it hard to buy Will Smith as Captain America. If I were to watch the movie, I couldn't find myself saying "hey, that's Captain America beating up The Red Skull's henchmen!", rather, "hey, that's Will Smith in some red white & blue tights beating up on The Red Skull's henchmen!"

And plus, they would have to ditch the World War 2 origin angle, because during WW2, Tom Crow was alive and well, and a black man couldn't use most public restrooms much less don a red white & blue uniform and fight for an America which treated him like second hand shit.

[Grouchy]

And plus, they would have to ditch the World War 2 origin angle, because during WW2, Tom Crow was alive and well, and a black man couldn't use most public restrooms much less don a red white & blue uniform and fight for an America which treated him like second hand shit.
Exactly. Having a black dude become America's government-sponsored hero in an early '40s setting is not progressive, it's fucking hypocritical.

[Ezee E]

Viggo Mortenson anyone?

[EyesWideOpen]

Exactly. Having a black dude become America's government-sponsored hero in an early '40s setting is not progressive, it's fucking hypocritical.

Read Truth: Red, White & Black.

A Will Smith starring Cap movie can be done fantastically if they used that Captain America story, but they won't.

[Saya]

First plot info from the movie is out:


"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-Soldier 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 and battle savvy, Captain America has continued his war against evil both as a sentinel of liberty and leader of the Avengers."

[soitgoes...]

Steve Rogers emerged from the treatment with a body as perfect as a body can be and still be human.Hmm... Makes me wonder why I wasn't contacted regarding a role.

[Grouchy]

That's not very informative. It's basically the Captain's origin.

It doesn't even tell us if the action will take place in WWII or after he's defrozen.

[Saya]

That's not very informative. It's basically the Captain's origin.

It doesn't even tell us if the action will take place in WWII or after he's defrozen.

I think this will be focused on his WWII days and will end with Cap being frozen in ice and the Avengers movie will feature Cap being defrozen. That's my guess.

[Grouchy]

I think this will be focused on his WWII days and will end with Cap being frozen in ice and the Avengers movie will feature Cap being defrozen. That's my guess.
Yeah, that seems like the most logical way to go.

[number8]

I'm 99% certain that's the case.

1) That's how it was when they revived him in the comics, in Avengers instead of his own title, which he didn't get (again) until much later.

2) A Captain America movie in current times would be too risky for them, because there's no way to dodge around the war convincingly with such a patriotic character. Against Nazis? Easy peasy.

[Wryan]

I'm 99% certain that's the case.

1) That's how it was when they revived him in the comics, in Avengers instead of his own title, which he didn't get (again) until much later.

2) A Captain America movie in current times would be too risky for them, because there's no way to dodge around the war convincingly with such a patriotic character. Against Nazis? Easy peasy.

Leni really needs to come back and do a good old pro-Nazi movie. I mean, really, we just don't see many any more. Poor guys are the butt of every joke and get treated worse than cartoon antagonists. Where's all the Nazis-as-heroes genre films?

[Morris Schæffer]

Well, that would be a fantastic angle! A superhero flick set during WWII with the hero blowing up tanks and diverting potato mashers with his shield.

[Ezee E]

Apparently, this is the Captain America in the deleted scenes of the Incredible Hulk

http://www.themovieblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/captain-america-in-hulk.jpg

[Saya]

I couldn't see it at first, but luckily someone made this:

http://i37.tinypic.com/20fuceo.jpg

[Morris Schæffer]

That first pic, as blurry as it is, is also a bit haunting. Cool!

[number8]

The idea of him being frozen with his shield like that is rather silly, though.

[Dukefrukem]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3189/2960175102_66526cc0f2.jpg?v=0

[The Mike]

That pic's a little dark.

Had to. My bad. :twisted:

[number8]

If real, that's a fantastic teaser.

[Dukefrukem]

just a rumor right now

[Grouchy]

Not real, though. That has to be fan-made.

[megladon8]

If Channing Tatum got the role (http://www.cinematical.com/2008/11/18/does-channing-tatum-want-to-play-captain-america/), I'd probably avoid the movie.

Well, no I wouldn't...but I wouldn't be too happy.

[Wryan]

Sorry but I can't tell who that is.

[number8]

I like Channing Tatum. He's a good actor.

[Ezee E]

Tatum was pretty good as the shell-shocked soldier in that movie that came out earlier. So long as the director is fine, I'd prefer him over Matt Mc.

[Dukefrukem]

bump for some great posts in here.