So Captain America is the New Spider-Man?
By Christopher Campbell | Posted Under Blog Trends | Comments (13)
Before reading further, check out Dustin’s post about Joe Johnston’s lengthy statement regarding what the director’s Captain America movie will be like. Because re-quoting that would be even more redundant than today’s Blog Trends already is.
Okay, you caught up? Good, now on with the show.
While Dustin now envisions Cap being a realistic kind of hero a la Batman, others around the web are concentrating more on how Steve Rogers goes from being a wimp to a great American hero. And to me it sounds a lot like the first Spider-Man film, which is interesting given all the talk about that franchise this week.
So if Spider-Man 4 (or Spider-Man Rebooted or whatever) ends up going in the darker direction of The Dark Knight, as rumored, maybe Captain America will fill the void by being more akin to Raimi’s Spider-Man films. Not that it really matters since Captain America is likely going to be an international failure anyway (what non-U.S. citizen wants to see such a U.S.-centric hero?).
Still, at least the domestic comic book and movie geeks will be seeing the movie, because apparently they’ll be seeing some of themselves in Cap before he’s Cap:
- Russ Fischer at /Film:
I suppose I can see that. Skinny kid Steve Rogers is given a serum that transforms him into a perfect physical specimen, then realizes that life doesn’t just get easy from there. OK, that’s a starting point. And Captain America has always had a brooding side. He always wants to do more, and often feels that he could have been more effective in a given situation. Some writers have him expecting a lot of others and feeling disappointment with himself when his leadership doesn’t elevate them to a higher standard.
So long as there’s no ‘emo Spider-Man’ edge to this portrayal, it’ll probably work.
- Eric Eisenberg at Cinema Blend:
The concept sounds a bit Spider-Man-esque to me, but every comic book movie needs a human element. Otherwise all you have is a Michael Bay film.
- Devin Faraci at CHUD.com:
So it’s about Captain America trying to fit in? Is this going to be a ‘Nobody in the Army trusts this new goofball Captain America’ story or a ‘Steve Rogers may have the body of a hero, but now he has to get the mentality of a hero’ story? If I remember correctly Fabian Nicieza and Kevin Maguire’s Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty miniseries in the 90s touched on a lot of this […] People are already talking about emo and stuff like that, which is truly a sign that the internet has fallen on hard times in terms of thinkers. You need a character to have internal conflict and room for growth; probably the hardest thing about Captain America in terms of writing is that he is so sure of himself, so rock steady and so much a conscious role model. The movie needs to find a psychological in, and the story of a 98 pound weakling learning to be a hero sounds about right to me.
- The Playlist:
We gotta give Johnston credit. He’s looking into the psychology of the character far deeper than we would have imagined. Then again, he probably thought there was emotional depth behind, “The Rocketeer” as well. Look, we’d like to see an interesting Captain America movie. We’re not sure he’s the guy for the job, but well, he at least sounds like he’s on the right track (though how they cast an actor who’s supposed to be a 98-lb weakling and then becomes the buff and tough Capn’ is a bit beyond us unless they’re going to go big — presumably a Sam Worthington type or older — and then make him puny with CGI effects).
- Jackson Cresswell at Collider:
With the success of The Dark Knight and the recent news of the Spider-Man reboot, it sounds completely possible that Captain America is going to go the gritty, realistic route. That point is only reinforced by Johnston’s comments on the character of Steve Rogers.
- Paul Tassi at JoBlo.com:
Sounds like he’s got a pretty good handle on the type of film he should be making, as this is one origin story that could actually be worth telling. Sure, “superheroes without powers” isn’t exactly a “new” concept per se, as we’ve already seen how Batman began, and this year we’ll also have the equally powerless KICK-ASS in theaters, but at least Johnston has his head on straight for the direction of the film.
- Mark at I Watch Stuff:
In summary, Captain America is basically that sitcom plot where the nerdy teen gets to be friends with the popular kids but in the end defects to help out the old nerdy friend who liked them before they were cool, which ends up making them more genuine and, somehow, cooler.
Photo stolen off Brooklyn Vegan. Not sure where they got it.
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Comments
Posted by: D-Day at January 14, 2010 8:44 PM
I think having a whining, emo, bedheaded, vampire-loving, nonsensical twat of a hero would fit in line with the majority of young American movie audiences, thus increasing his mass appeal.
We'll see Cap, we'll see...
(On a side note, Cap used to be Marvel's version of the Green Lantern until a few good writers figured out that he's an awesome blank slate to make a badass character. Let's hold judgement for now, 'verse)