'Captain America' to Begin Shooting Next Summer

The Avengers will be here in 2012, and most of the pathways that lead us there have already become familiar to us: Iron Man was a huge hit and its sequel is on the way in May, Hulk has been attempted twice and the more recent version is really underrated, and Thor is shooting soon, overcoming major hurdles to put together what sounds like a very interesting production. That leaves Captain America. Cap will probably jump in front of cameras soon, if Joe Johnston is to be believed. He's the director of The Wolfman and the man who is lined up for the fourth Avenger origin story. I think the success or failure of Wolfman could tell us a lot about whether or not Johnston stays attached to the project (for a while, it was going to be Nick Cassevetes directing it), but for the time being, he's the guy. Johnston tells Fangoria it starts in June, and getting this one off the ground smoothly is key. It is, after all, called The First Avenger: Captain America, and as the last of the four heroes to wind up in theaters, the transition from this film to the group adventure can't be bumpy. There has been speculation that the film would take place, at least in part, around the time of the second World War, when Steve Rogers was a government guinea pig who became the ultimate human weapon. I hope they stick with that, and I haven't heard any update to the contrary, so I assume that's still a go. Johnston, incidentally, directed The Rocketeer, so he has experience with the era in question, and it involved a superhero of sorts, so that's a bonus. The only reason they might not keep it is for the sake of consistency. You'd either have to forego the Nick Fury cameo or you'd have to fast forward at least 40 years. They'd probably just fast forward if they keep the true origins of the character in tact. Now then, what about casting? It better happen soon. We've heard nothing concrete about who might play Captain America, though the rumors have included Matthew McConaughey in the past. I think this might be Bradley Cooper's balliwick, though that's just conjecture. He was a runner-up for DC's Green Lantern, and he's a hot commodity right now. He also favors Steve Rogers enough that you can make that move without it raising too many eyebrows. But truthfully, nobody knows.

Comments

[JJ]

I think Will Smith would be the best Cap

[common]

Will Smith, um ... Cap was a WW2 combat vet. And unlike hollywood, history tells us that he would have to be white. Not to mention Steve Rogers is WHITE in the comic. Stop rewriting and raping my childhood memories. Make the damn movie like the comic and ppl will like it, make it not like the comic and/or toys and you get GI Joe. Do you really want that on you couscious...

[J.Bradley]

I've never looked at the dvd version of "The Hulk" but it supposedly has a not-in-the theatrical-version 'bit with Cap at the beginning. I'm glad Johnston's still attached. "The Wolfman" really looks great, I think. In addition to "The Rocketeer" he was also production designer on "Raiders of the Lost Ark", if you remember, so he should interpret that wartime period and style well. I'm really glad they're at least starting off Cap in that period.

[The Observer]

why are you always on this info late? i could start a movie blog and be ahead of you, and I have a full time job...lucky man, u are.

[Jeremy]

If I recall correctly there's a scene in Ironman when Tony Stark is in his workshop putting on the suit, and in the background you can see a very Captain America shield in the works. That combined with the Nick Fury cameo would make it difficult to have start this movie out in a WW2 era, unless Captain America's infused talents from the government give him the Wolverine like ability to never age. Only time will tell, no pun intended.

[Get The Big Picture]

Thanks, Observer. Here's why I'm late: Like you, I have a full-time job away from this website. I also flew across the damn country this week for the holidays and have focused a fair amount of my attention on end-of-the-year stuff, including screening about 30 films between December 1st and 17th, some of which included a three-hour round trip on top of watching each movie. I've also been writing quite lengthy best/worst of the year lists in several categories over the past few days, and, you know, spending time with my family and friends.

I'm also one guy running an entire site by myself. But feel free to try tackling a movie site on your own. I would suggest finding the shift key on your keyboard and cutting the u/you replacement out of your writing, though, before you get too invested in blogging.

I think I do a pretty good job considering I watch at least as many movies as the majority of blogs out there, write longer reviews than most of them, and still try to find angles on stories everyone covers that might be slightly interesting to our audience and hopefully different than the coverage they can get somewhere else.

[To the observer]

owned.

[Ob-SERVED]

You've just been ob-served. ZING!