Oh Captain My Captain
By TK | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (44)
Alrighty then. I think we can now say that the Avengers are officially assembled, at least in pictures, anyway. We’ve seen Iron Man, we’ve seen the Hulk, we’ve seen Thor and Black Widow. Now, finally, we can see Chris Evans as Captain America as he’ll be seen in Joe Johnston’s The First Avenger: Captain America. This isn’t the concept art, these are actual set pics, both of Evans and other cast members. The pictures appear in the new issue of EW, a magazine that I loathe, but that gets good scoops. Here’s the newest plot synopsis:
The year is 1942, and Steve Rogers is a scrawny lad who desperately wants to fight Nazis for his country but can’t because he’s been deemed physically unfit. His fate — and his physique — is radically transformed when he signs up for Project: Rebirth, a secret military operation that turns wimps into studs using drugs and assorted sci-fi hoo-ha. There’s a love interest (Major Peggy Carter, played Haley Atwell), there’s a sidekick (Bucky Barnes, played by Sebastian Stans), and there’s the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), Hitler’s treacherous head of advanced weaponry, whose own plan for world domination involves a magical object known as The Tesseract (comic fans know it better as The Cosmic Cube)
And now, the pics. First, to appease the ab-hungry:
Clearly, Evans has gone from “jacked” to “really fucking jacked” for the film.
Next, the cover shot:
OK, that’s a horrible picture that initially filled me with dread. But it’s also shopped to death. The uniform looks good though.
I dig it. The old school look is working thus far.
The original Cap shield. Looks just right.
The high tech HYDRA submarine.
A better look at the sub, via Slashfilm.
Evans and Haley Atwell as Peggy Carter
Up top, shot of Stanley Tucci as Dr. Abraham Erskine, developer of the Super Soldier serum that turn Steve Rogers into Captain America. Below, the first shot of Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt, aka The Red Skull ( no news on whether the actual Red Skull visage will be the original masked incarnation, or the “death dust”-caused modern one).
OK, a few thoughts: One, Hugo Weaving looks fucking radass (thanks, RobP) and has that sneer fucking nailed. I like the dedication to accuracy, both historical and comic booky. Evans has always been an entertaining actor, but it remains to be seen how capable he is of anything beyond glib/snarky. Much like Ryan Reynolds, he’s known mostly as a prettyboy with a nice bod and a wry grin. Reynolds proved himself in Buried. Let’s see what Evans can do. Actually, here’s an interesting quote from him in the EW article:
“At the time, I remember telling a buddy of mine, ‘If the movie bombs, I’m f—-ed. If the movie hits, I’m f—-ed!’” After declining the part three times, Evans took a meeting with Marvel execs and Johnston and was dazzled by their plans for the movie. He still felt wary about suiting up for Captain America — but then he had an epiphany. “I was just scared,” he says. “I realized my whole decision making process was fear based, and you never want to make a decision out of fear.’” Evans signed a six-picture deal with Marvel to play the character, and he has no regrets: “I can’t believe was almost too chicken to play Captain America.”
Interesting. I like Evans. I’m not sure of him as Cap, but I’ve never seen him give a bad performance, I suppose. Honestly, the x-factor in this is really going to be Johnston, who’s got some major ground to make up after his dismal adaptation of The Wolfman. But the script is supposedly quite good, and the polish by Joss Whedon likely made it even better, so I’m keepin’ my fingers crossed.
(images courtesy of Comic Book Movie. The issue of EW hits stores today)
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Comments
Posted by: RobP at October 29, 2010 10:40 AM
These images definitely have me looking forward to this more than I had been previously. Still not sure where Cap scratching his balls fits into the overall narrative of the piece, but the more I see of Evans in the role, the more convinced I am he was right the choice. Or, at least, a very good choice. If this is Marvel's way of getting us to mentally accept Evans as Cap, kind of like WB did with leaking shots of Heath Ledger as the Joker, then it's working. On me, at least.
And you're welcome, TK. You're all welcome.