Monday
10Nov2008
'Captain America' Hires Joe the Director
Monday, November 10, 2008 at 1:53AM
One more piece in the Marvel Comics puzzle has come
together, although at first, it's admittedly puzzling.
Joe Johnston
has been hired to direct
The First Avenger: Captain America, according
to
various reports.
"This is a guy who designed the vehicles for Star Wars, who storyboarded the convoy action sequence for Raiders of the Lost Ark, " Marvel's Kevin Feige said. "From Rocketeer to October Sky to The Wolf Man, you can look at pieces of his movies and see how they lead to this one."
I've been critical of Marvel's business decisions this year (Iron Man 2 confusion, Ant-Man), and, you know, hiring Kenneth Branagh to direct Thor is a bold choice, making Thor in the first place might even be a mistake. But Feige is absolutely right about this one. And pay attention to some of those titles - The Rocketeer, Raiders, October Sky - they're all set in the same era as Captain America, our first period comic book movie, and they all have a real Americana quality to them. So Johnston has shown a way of capturing that essence in the past. And he clearly knows spectacle, another key component in this type of event movie.
Oddly enough, it's also being reported that there's no script yet for Cap, which makes me wonder what the hold-up is. Marvel's just now hearing pitches for a movie that's already set a release date? Don't know that I like that so much.
So Johnston will go from next year's period flick The Wolf Man right into this movie, presumably, and while I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of his work generally, I think Marvel could've done a lot worse for the kind of movie it's going to be. The only question I have is how in the hell they'll explain that Captain America got his start in World War II in May 2011 and fast-forward that character to a contemporary setting for The Avengers six whole weeks later.
Reader Comments (2)
I've decided that I'm pulling for Scott Speedman to play Captain America...
Why Scott Speedman...Are You Infatuated With Him Or Something? An Unknown...Or An Actor With Some More Chops Than Scott Speedman...I Don't Care If He's Canadian. By The Way...I've Got Some N.A.S.A. /U.S. Military Info On U.F.O.'s I'm Going To Release...It's Very Shocking! Why Is The U.S. Government Think They Have The Right To Keep Shit Like This Under Raps...Friggin Faggots...I'lll Show Em...You'll See.