'Captain America' Updates: Casting, Villains, USO

Joe Johnston will be directing The First Avenger: Captain America, and he's been dropping plenty of hints about it in the press lately, so much so that you almost forget that he has The Wolfman in theaters next week, which may, in fact, be the point. But he tells The Los Angeles Times more than he ever has to this point, and it basically sets the scene for the whole film. For starters: "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," Johnston says. "So they say, 'You're going to be in this USO show' and they give him a flag suit. He can't wait to get out of it." OK, well, I don't love that. Is it in the origin story somewhere? Sounds new to me. "It was never in the comics," Johnston said, admits, predicting questions just like mine, "because they didn't really need it. In comics, he puts on the costume and the reader just justifies because of the nature of the medium." But wait, there's more...

"So he's up on stage doing songs and dances with chorus girls and he can't wait to get out and really fight. When he does go AWOL, he covers up the suit but then, after a few things happen, he realizes that this uniform allows him to lead. By then, he's become a star in the public mind and a symbol. The guys get behind him because he embodies something special."

I can't say that interests me a whole lot. We also know now that the villain will be Red Skull, and that does interest me. I hope they make a smart casting decision there (DC and Marvel usually get the villains right), because he's a great villain. I smell Christoph Waltz, if he doesn't mind being a super-Nazi again. As for the principal issue - who will play Captain America - Johnston has again been the bearer of bad news. Indicating that he doesn't want a big name, Johnston says, "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 1 for London," adds the director. So this means no Jeremy Renner, who's 39, no possibility of Matt Damon - same age, box office draw, perfect choice - and kind of a tacit confirmation that the recently rumored Chad Michael Murray might be in the ballpark, even if (let's hope) he's not one of the five or six actors Johnston is referring to. The trouble is, for as much wishing as we'd want to do about it, he's got the right age group for the character, but that's never been crucial to Marvel before. I say Cam Gigandet, then, because at least he's a physical presence and can handle himself in action scenes.

Comments

[Jason]

This pretty much just ruined my week. So let me get this straight, all of the following are ok to leave the comic story as is:

-A Norse god
-Cosmic radiation turns people into a walking rock fall, an elastic man, an invisible girl and a flying supernova (oh yeah, and an evil metal man)
-A galactic surfer
-LIterally thousands of mutants who can do all sorts of things with not even a hint of trying to maintain conservation of mass and energy
-Gamma rays?????
-A teenager bitten by a spider who then gets the powers of a spider (including his "spider sense")
-Ghost Rider (do I have to say anymore?)

But the original "super soldier" (during WWII no less) is not allowed to wear a uniform styled from the American flag. This is f*%#ing crap. God forbid we show some freaking patriotism in the Marvel universe.

And BTW: if it is Cam Gigandet, I sure hope they film Steve Rogers now and then give him a year to bulk up. Cap is supposed to be an imposing physical presence.

[Will]

I think they are also changing character's name to "Captain Globalism"…

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