Spoilers For Cap Film

[savemoony.livejournal.com]

March 1, 2010 is the deadline for casting Steve Rogers. According to wired.com:

Johnston expects to name the film’s star within the next couple weeks, drawing from a short list of six actors up for wielding Cap’s shield. “The youngest is 23,” Johnston said. “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.”

BigShinyRobot.com has reported that:

According to MY studio guy, the rumors about Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill), Ryan McPartlin (Chuck), Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) and other unknowns/television actors reading for Cap are true.

Apparently, when the script came in with World War II sequences (featuring the Invaders), the studio heads decided it was beyond their means to make this movie AND afford A-listers like Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.

Sure sounds like everyone’s high on McPartlin, who evidently just lost out on the Superman role to Brandon Routh.

Folks should take the Big Shiny Robot information with a grain of salt. It actually came out before Johnston's interview. McPartlin is 34; meaning if we take Johnston's comments as The Word Of God, McPartlin is out. Moreover, this is the first confirmation I've seen that's Jensen Ackles read for the role. I'm trying to withhold my SQUEEEEEEE. The three all have contractial obligations with television shows, so regardless of who they cast, they will have to work around their tv schedule. Murray and McPartlin would be easier to write out of their respective shows. Jensen and Jared are in every scene of every episode of Supernatural. Working around Jensen's schedule will be most problematic. But, like my friend in the business says, "if Marvel wants him badly enough, they will make it out."

Now... Now onto script spoilers.

The LA Time's Hero COmplex blog interviewed Joe Johnston. Johnston revealed how Steve Rogers gets his mythic costume:

"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 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."

"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."

There will be more than one costume in the film, too.

In the first USO sequences, the frustrated patriot will be wearing a version that is closer to the classic Jack Kirby-designed costume, but then later as the super-soldier hits the war zone he will be wearing a sturdier, more muted version that he makes himself that is more like battle togs. The stripes across his mid-section, for instance, will be straps, not colored fabric.

"He realizes the value of the uniform symbols but he modifies his suit and adds some armor, it will be closer to the Cpa costume in some of the comics in more recent years . . . this approach, it's the only way we could justify ever seeing him on a screen in tights, with the funny boots and everything. The government essentially puts him up there as a living comic-book character and he rips it off and then reclaims some of its imagery after he recognizes the value of it. We think it's the best way to keep the costume and explain it at the same time."

Steve Rogers never wore tights you asshat.

Johnston confirmed there will be tie ins to Iron Man and Thor, and the modern will have modern day book ends. IGN (and multiple other sources) are reporting the director revealed that The Invaders will "be in the entire second half" of the film. IGN is also reporting that Red Skull will be the Big Bad.

On a happier note, Robert Downey Jr is awesome. Downey Jr recently told SFX Magazine:

"The Avengers" [is] a culmination of the first four years of movies from Marvel Studios. It's the pinnacle, but only if it's done in the smartest and best and most creatively sound way possible. And I'm not saying we can't get there. I'm just saying it would be better to get there and not stay on schedule than to get everyone what they were hoping for in terms of a release date but not do it correctly. And by correctly, I mean my way," laughed Downey.

Comments

[tsukinofaerii.livejournal.com]

I already spent many hours raging with you in AIM, so... posting to use the icon.

I don't even... (goes into a corner to bitch complain stridently)

[des-pudels-kern.livejournal.com]

“The youngest is 23,” Johnston said. “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.”

Well, seeing as they want to do an ensemble movie with the Avengers, and their already cast, well-established, and much-loved Tony Stark actor is in his forties, I do hope they don't go with the 23-year-old. I doubt it would stop me from slashing (with that source material how could I not slash), but the one being old enough to be the other's father would change the chemistry and balance of their relationship.

Apparently, when the script came in with World War II sequences (featuring the Invaders), the studio heads decided it was beyond their means to make this movie AND afford A-listers like Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.

Well, good. I'd love a new (or at least not too well-known) face in the role. And, as much as I love Jensen Ackles in Supernatural, I do not want him as Steve Rogers. Sure, hair and eye colour can be changed, but whoever they cast, I want him to be built, as in huge, muscles and height.

[flight-wo-wings.livejournal.com]

He doesn't really look like he's in his forties, though. I suppose the difference might be more obvious if he was standing right next to someone in his twenties, but I don't think it would change the dynamic that much. I see RDJ!Stark as being somewhere in his mid-thirties.

[iridania.livejournal.com]

Well, seeing as they want to do an ensemble movie with the Avengers, and their already cast, well-established, and much-loved Tony Stark actor is in his forties, I do hope they don't go with the 23-year-old. I doubt it would stop me from slashing (with that source material how could I not slash), but the one being old enough to be the other's father would change the chemistry and balance of their relationship.
My thoughts exactly. Having Steve in his early 20s would be... upsetting. :/

And, as much as I love Jensen Ackles in Supernatural, I do not want him as Steve Rogers.
He would do an awesome job, but... no.
I'd really, really, really like to see him as Bucky, though. I realise that he's too old for the role, but... hell. He would be perfect. (Maybe in the Avengers?)
Anyway, some months ago at a Spn convention he said he wasn't interested in the role - if he did read for Cap it was a nice bluff. Smart move.

[flight-wo-wings.livejournal.com]

"He realizes the value of the uniform symbols but he modifies his suit and adds some armor, it will be closer to the Cpa costume in some of the comics in more recent years . . . this approach, it's the only way we could justify ever seeing him on a screen in tights, with the funny boots and everything. The government essentially puts him up there as a living comic-book character and he rips it off and then reclaims some of its imagery after he recognizes the value of it. We think it's the best way to keep the costume and explain it at the same time."

I think this is a good idea. I could totally see the government doing something like that (it even makes a certain amount of sense -- they wanted an army of supersoldiers, but if they only have one, obviously he's too valuable to put out in the field. So they need to get their money's worth out of him another way) and to be frank, Cap's costume is silly. He has little wings on his head. I'm not trying to be a hater here. My favorite costumed hero of all time, the Flash, has little lightning bolts on his head, and wears red pajamas. I kind of like the silly. But it's not a very practical look for live combat, and I like the idea of an exploration of that conflict between showmanship and practicality.

I don't know any of the possible casting choices from Adam (not even Jensen, though I guess he must be doing something right if he has this many rabid fans) so I'll be waiting until we see some trailers to comment on that. I don't mind that they're thinking about casting a slightly older actor for Cap, though -- considering his backstory, I think it could be made to work. And I totally agree with RDJ that they should let the deadlines take care of themselves and focus on making some awesome movies. XD

[tsukinofaerii.livejournal.com]

My major complaint about the USO angle is that it's like spending 50 million dollars on a one-of-a-kind, shiny new gun and then... not using it when someone breaks into your house, because then it wouldn't be shiny. If he grows old and dies without seeing battle, they're getting exactly as much use out of him as they could Bob Hope.

I just don't get it. :\

[valtyr]

Anyone who thinks Cap's costume is impractical and too gaudy for a battlefield has never investigated what the forces of the British Empire used to wander about in.

I do not like this at all.

[flight-wo-wings.livejournal.com]

Really? What did they used to wear?

This is just supposition on my part, but didn't the British Empire, for the most part, fight people with less advanced technology? If you have gatling guns, and the other side has rifles if they're lucky, an impractical costume wouldn't make as much difference as it would if you were fighting a technological equal, like the Allies were.

[des-pudels-kern.livejournal.com]

I think it's a matter of Cap not being any of the other soldiers. He's not one of the countless faceless men fighting in the trenches. He's one of a kind, he's a deliberately visible symbol of hope and encouragement for his allies, encouraging them to follow his example and fight bravely, and at the same time the sight of him standing out amongst a crowd of soldiers, standing proud and tall, fearless, strong, and unbeaten, will also strike fear in the heart of his enemies. Impractical? He's not a sniper, he's supposed to be visible! What's the point of having a super soldier and putting him in a flag costume if you don't use him? Yes, his costume is ridiculous, and I do not like it one bit, but there's a reason for it loking like that, and it is part of who Captain America is.

[booster-blue.livejournal.com]

I'm rather sick of the notion that superhero movies need to be grounded in some sort of reality. Is his costume cheesy? Fuck yes (they can always run with his Ultimates one, if they're that pressed over the issue), but he was - essentially - a propaganda tool. He's supposed to be larger than life.

And the way it's being talked about..makes it seem like they'll have Steve be reluctant to take on the title of Cap. Which, I dunno, doesn't sit well with me. I like Steve as the super patriotic frail kid-turned-hunk of burning lovejustice.

I'm tired of jaded heroes.

[musemachine.livejournal.com]

Although, I'm not sure that they have to be mutually exclusive. The way I'm understanding this is that Steve is a patriotic soldier at heart here. Being a showdog has got to be galling to a man whose deepest desire is to fight and die for freedom and his country, and he conflates Captain America with a show personality that (he believes) is fairly shallow and a mockery of the lives these good men are selling dearly to the night. It takes him seeing what the men believe about him to finally understand that Captain America is more than just glitz and empty platitudes to these men, that he's a symbol of hope, freedom, and justice.

Oh, RDJ

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

By the time the Avengers' movie comes out, RDJ is going to be old, but that could work.

I already spoke at length in tsukino's LJ, but to be fair, the original Captain America story is pretty hokey, and what with Cap's patriotism, it can be taken as jingoism to an international audience - and this movie isn't just for a domestic audience but an international one. Note the fact that GI JOE the movie had the team as an international fighting force instead of US based. So yeah... I can see why the powers that be are doing what they do.

I like the aspect of the USO "you gotta get up, you get up this morning... " and having Captain America as a branching out for that.

Personally, I'd have made it a mashup of Ults and 616. Or just do his origin story like they did in Ultimate Avengers the cartoon.

As much as I like Steve Rogers, I don't know if I'd sit down for a Captain America movie at all.

[gogglehead84.livejournal.com]

I see why people are getting upset. But it is a comic book movie, so of course it's going to go out and butcher canon and everything we know as much as possible.

[flight-wo-wings.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's because I've only been in comics fandom for a year, but I just don't understand this attitude.

[geuna.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, the though of Ryan McPartlin, Mr. Awesome, would be... well, Super Awesome! XD

[garrideb.livejournal.com]

This might really change one of the most fundamental relationships in comics - the relationship between Cap and his shield.

If the shield is part of the 'act' that he is trying to desperately leave, will he initially hate the shield? Will he throw the shield? I have to admit, throwing a shield in combat is something that works in 616, but not in the real world. If they're trying hard to make this not feel comic-booky, will Cap throw his shield?

[valtyr]

I'm puzzled about the shield. I mean, I could perhaps grit my teeth and accept that they send their supersoldier out to dance around in tights (seriously, I don't think a male entertainer in that period would even wear tights) but I don't believe they'd hand him a marvelous, unique piece of metal to do it with.

Oh, probably he has the kite shield in this? And then in the future he gets the awesome one. Possibly after, in the finale of this, chucking his shield to gain advantage at a key point.

[chaosakita.livejournal.com]

Guys, why don't we actually see the movie come out before we complain about it? I personally don't see what the big fuss about it is. I'm just glad there's going to be a movie, because if Watchmen showed anything, that means the fandom is going to see a large increase in the number of people.

[freakydarling.livejournal.com]

Delurking just to say YES I am glad someone else is thinking this. Agreed!

[revenant-oozi.livejournal.com]

Is Bucky going to be a part of this? I haven't really looked into it.

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

Per dude at comic con who I forget, yeah, they're pushing Bucky, but at the time it wasn't formal. It's probably formal one way or the other now, but I don't know what.

Given there are the Invaders though, thinking yes Bucky.
Not that I think any of the other Invaders will resemble themselves.

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

Murrrghhhh, I shouldn't have looked.
This is one of those things that sounds GOD AWFUL in writing, but if I tune down my freaking out, I can almost see the logic in it AND it's all concepts they've used in comics to some degree, even if it was one-shots like The Chosen (in that AU the military did have major issues allowing Steve into combat and he basically went AWOL. actually the idea was in another four part comic too, and that wasn't AU).

He's never been in the USO, but it does explain the outfit, IMHO a lot better than the idea that the military would ever create it. Granted in the four part mini, it was based on Steve's art doodles, but they could still keep that and go with the USO.

Sooooo given that's not much of the plot at all really, I might live with it as a set up.

I'm actually more upset about the Invaders. They won't do them right, so why bother (and by they won't I mean they already said they wouldn't)

[merianmoriarty.livejournal.com]

Cap never wore tights

you're damn right. he wore ridiculously tight leather pants. <3 MUCH better than tights.

[strzyga.livejournal.com]

ffff

not sure how i feel about the majority of the news, here, but you should post this over at ontd_comicbooks, too.

[savemoony.livejournal.com]

Feel free to repost it if you want.

[notrafficlights.livejournal.com]

Blargh. The way I always imagine Cap is much older and way beefier than what they're casting him as. Like, circa Oliver Coipel NOW (omg so much hotness in The Seige mini they've got running at the moment with Cap coming baaaaaaaack). But that just may be my love of Coipel's beefy guys. *sniffles* ;_; Bill, oh why did you have to go and get your arse killed by evil!Asgardians. You were so deliciously beefy and awkward and red-haired.

I hope they do like they did with nu!Kirk and get a relatively unknown in the role. That would be cool and cause less problems with casting, methinks.

Jensen Ackles as Hawkeye though... that I am all over like a bad rash in a weird place, oh yeah. Unf.

[girlnotorious.livejournal.com]

JENSEN ACKLES. OH GOD, IF THEY COULD MANAGE TO BEEF HIM UP ENOUGH THAT IT LOOKS REALISTIC, YES~!