The Captain America Movie Rumor Mill Grinds On

The First Avenger: Captain America (2011) is the key for a whole slew of Marvel movies coming up, including The Avengers, so they’re focused on getting it right. I’m getting a little nervous, because it would be really easy for Joe Johnston to mess up Captain America, especially after the debacle of Wolfman (2010).

There are lots of rumors going around about the flick, so we’ll list the highlights:

Costume – As is usually the case, Captain America’s superhero costume gets a revision. Here’s how the director, Joe Johnston, describes it, “The costume is a flag, but the way we’re getting around that is we have Steve Rogers forced into the USO circuit. After he’s made into this super-soldier, they decide they can’t send him into combat and risk him getting killed. He’s the only one and they can’t make more. So they …give him a flag suit. He can’t wait to get out of it.” I have mixed feelings about this. Some costumes you can get away with changing (ex. Wolverine, Daredevil or Batman), but, some costumes are so iconic that it’s hard to accept the character any other way (ex. Superman, Spider-Man). He wears a flag. It’s not like he can wear a pair of blue jeans and a red shirt holding a trash can lid.

Casting – They’ve said everyone from Chris Pine (Star Trek), Ryan McPartlin (Chuck), Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill), Jensen Ackles (My Bloody Valentine) and Will Smith (Independence Day). Johnston said, “Well, we’re testing five or six guys. 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 1st for London.” I would rather see an unknown play him, but I understand a movie this big needs star power.

Villains – The primary villain will, of course, be the Nazi villain with a serious acne problem known as Red Skull. I wouldn’t be surprised if Baron Zemo, the Nazi mad scientist makes an appearance as well. He has also said that HYDRA, the world-wide subversive organization dedicated to global domination, would play a big part in the film.

Bunk mates – Joe Johnson has said that The Invaders, a World War II superhero team, will appear in the movie. I’ve never heard of them, so if anyone has any information I’d love to hear about it. They’re hoping this will open the film to a more international audience. It would be cool if we’d see Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in the film, however, since they’ve already established him in modern day it would raise a lot of questions. They could all be answered by cryogenics though.

Location – Steve Rogers origin has him sent to the war front, so it’s no surprise that most of the film will be set in Europe. Again, this should help keep the “non-US” people in the world from boycotting a film that is so pro-American.

Do you think  The First Avenger: Captain America will be a hit or a bomb? Let us know in the comments!

UPDATE: Added Jensen Ackles to the list of actors and HYDRA to the list of villains.