Captain America movie Roundup

[GreenScar]

UGO has put up a list of items known and rumored about the film. If you're really excited about the movie you might be interested in the tidbits. Below MTV adds a little to the discussion on how Iron Man and Capt America might tie in.

The moment his shield was spotted in Tony Stark’s workshop, we took a giant step closer to the day when the words Captain America would light up across marquees. While we’re still over two years away and the project continues to remain shrouded in secrecy, here’s a round up of what’s known so far…

Confirmed:

* Captain America made his debut in 1941 as lowly U.S. Army Pvt. Steve Rogers. “We had him peeling spuds,” creator Joe Simon recalls. “The government shot him up with a super-serum, which made him the first of what was to be an army of superheroes.” Simon and comic-book artist Jack Kirby, who died in 1994, created the character during World War II as an all-American adversary to Adolf Hitler. “We were a war-consumed nation, just like today,” he says. (USA Today)

* In Iron Man, Captain America’s shield can be seen in Tony Stark’s workshop when JARVIS is removing his armor and Pepper Potts spots him. (First Showing)

* According to an exclusive comic book released with the Wal-Mart deluxe DVD version of Iron Man, Howard Stark created the technology for the shield, and Stark used a discarded prototype to help design the alloy used for his armor. (Wikipedia)

* In the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, General Ross mentions to Emil Blonsky that there was a World War II program that created a supersoldier serum. The supersoldier serum is shown as well as Dr. Reinstein referenced as its inventor. Blonsky is then injected with the serum in order to take on the Hulk. (IGN, SuperHeroHype)

* In the film’s deleted opening, Bruce Banner comes to the Arctic to commit suicide but transforms into the Hulk, smashing the glacier. A buried human figure and shield is visible, who are meant to be Rogers and his shield. (MTV)

* The First Avenger: Captain America will be a period piece set during World War II. (SciFi.com)

* Filming has been booked to take place primarily at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, California. (SuperHeroHype)

* April 1997: Marvel Studios was in negotiations with Mark Gordon and Gary Levinsohn to produce Captain America. In addition Larry Wilson and Leslie Bohem were set to write a script. (Variety)

* May 2000: Marvel teamed with Artisan Entertainment to help finance the film. (Variety)

* A lawsuit arose between Marvel Comics and Joe Simon over the ownership of Captain America copyrights, disrupting the development process of the film.

* September 2003: The lawsuit was settled. (Variety)

* December 2004: Nick Cassavetes, was considered to direct this film and had been set as a director for Iron Man until Favs took over. (IMDB)

* 2005: Marvel received a $525 million investment from Merrill Lynch, allowing them to independently produce ten films, including Captain America. Paramount Pictures agreed to distribute the film. (Variety)

* Originally, the film would stand-alone. Producer Avi Arad said, “The biggest opportunity with Captain America is as a man ‘out of time’, coming back today, looking at our world through the eyes of someone who thought the perfect world was small-town America. Sixty years go by, and who are we today? Are we better?” He cited the Back to the Future trilogy as an influence, and claimed he had “someone in mind to be the star, and definitely someone in mind to be the director”. (MTV)

* February 2006: Arad hoped to have a summer 2008 theatrical release date. (Variety)

* Jon Favreau approached Arad to direct the film as a comedy, but then The Favs chose to make Iron Man instead. (SuperHeroHype)
* July 2006: David Self was hired to write the script. (Variety)

* He explained Captain America was his favorite superhero as a child because his dad told him he could one day be Captain America. (Hollywood Reporter)

* Michael France was also interested in the project. (IGN)

* Joe Johnston, the director of Jurassic Park III, Jumanji, The Rocketeer and 2009’s The Wolfman, met with Marvel to discuss directing the film. (Hollywood Reporter)

* Producer Kevin Feige said “about half” of the film would be set during World War II, before moving into the modern day. (IGN)

* The project was put on hold during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.

* January 2008: Marvel Entertainment reached an interim comprehensive agreement with the Writers Guild of America that would put writers immediately back to work on various projects that were under the company’s development. (Variety)

* May 5, 2008: After the success of Iron Man’s opening weekend, Marvel announced the film The First Avenger: Captain America for a May 6, 2011 release. (SuperHeroHype)

* The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier viewed some of the concept art being created for the film, and was impressed enough to offer his services, but Marvel turned him down. (Dark Horizons)

* November 2008: Johnston signed on to direct the film. (Hollywood Reporter)

* November 2008: Shortly after, Johnston hired Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely to rewrite. (Hollywood Reporter)

* Markus and McFeely were co-writers of both Chronicles of Narnia films as well as the HBO telepic The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.

* When asked whether anti-American sentiments would affect the film’s box office, Feige said, “Marvel is perceived pretty well around the world right now, and I think putting another uber-Marvel hero into the worldwide box office would be a good thing. [...] We have to deal with much the same way that Captain America, when thawed from the Arctic ice, entered a world that he didn’t recognize, and had to sort of deal with the changes, whether it was when Stan [Lee] did it in the [1960s] and that world Steve Rogers was coming into, or the world of 2009 [when the release date was originally projected].” (IGN)

* Likewise, Arad noted “Captain America stands for freedom for all democracies, for hope all around the world. He was created to stop tyranny and the idea of stopping tyranny is important today as it was then and unfortunately it’s not going to change because that’s how the world works. So I think that we will have some interesting challenges but at the end of the day if the movie is terrific and the movie talks to the world, it’s not about one place, it’s about the world and I think [on] that basis it will be very successful.” (IESB)

* “With The First Avenger hitting six weeks before The Avengers, it’s sort of obvious that the film will end with Cap frozen somehow, to be awoken in the second film. But I wondered if that meant audiences would need to see The First Avenger to get on The Avengers train,” said Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios. (CHUD)

Rumored:

* Creator Joe Simon told USA Today, “Hitler was a comic foil for our character, and every comic sold out that first year.” Simon now suggests that Osama bin Laden might be an appropriate foe for Captain America to pursue. But Captain America more likely will take on his most famous adversary, the Red Skull — a Nazi (later turned Communist) introduced by Simon in Captain America Comics #1. (USA Today)

* October 2008: A full-plot synopsis of “The First Avenger: Captain America” appeared online as published in Production Weekly....

“Born during the Great Depression, Steve Rogers grew up a frail youth in a poor family. Horrified by the newsreel footage of the Nazis in Europe, Rogers was inspired to enlist in the army. However, because of his frailty and sickness, he was rejected. Overhearing the boy’s earnest plea, General Chester Phillips offered Rogers the opportunity to take part in a special experiment… Operation: Rebirth.”

“After weeks of tests, Rogers was at last administered the ‘Super-Soldier Serum’ and bombarded by ‘vita-rays.’ Steve Rogers emerged from the treatment with a body as perfect as a body can be and still be human. Rogers was then put through an intensive physical and tactical training program. Three months later, he was given his first assignment as Captain America. Armed with his indestructible shield and and battle savvy, Captain America has continued his war against evil both as a sentinel of liberty and leader of the Avengers.” (Production Weekly)

* There’s still no word on who might play the star-spangled patriot, but rumors have abounded, including Matthew McConaughey and Leonardo DiCaprio. (ComicBookMovie)

* Channing Tatum expressed interest in playing the title character in November of 2008: “Captain America? Oh my God! Oddly enough, I just got given a book – one of the painters came up and here gave me a book. I would think about it. Maybe it’s destiny! I would definitely think about it – I just got done doing ‘GI Joe,’ though. If ‘Joe’ does well, and it doesn’t seem to be the exact same story, then I would. I don’t know. They seem to be very, very similar – almost identical. Except for the – I think he takes a serum? Like a strength serum? [But the WWII setting] could be very very cool.” (Cinematical)

Debunked:

* Will Smith is not involved in the film. (MTV)

From MTV

With all the talk about the success of “The Dark Knight,” the bad-ass vibe of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and the legal troubles of “Watchmen,” it’s easy to forget that there’s another, even bigger slate of comics-savvy films hitting theaters down the road — not the least of which is the culmination of Marvel Studios’ glorious four-year plan: “The Avengers.” And just a few weeks before “The Avengers” hits theaters, the world will be introduced to the superteam’s eventual leader in “The First Avenger: Captain America.”

However, with no shortage of news, speculation and detective-like investigation surrounding “Captain America,” it can be hard to distinguish where the rumors end and the facts begin. To that end, UGO has posted an exhausting roundup of just about everything there is to know about the film (and a few things we’re still guessing about) — but that doesn’t mean they didn’t miss an item or two.

After the jump, we’ve offered up some additional context on the “Captain America” news roundup, based on our coverage of the much-anticipated film.

Under the heading of “Confirmed” facts about the film, UGO’s roundup reports that in “an exclusive comic book released with the Wal-Mart deluxe DVD version of Iron Man, Howard Stark created the technology for the shield, and Stark used a discarded prototype to help design the alloy used for his armor.”

This would seem to corroborate some of our own theories about Captain America’s origins and the role of Tony Stark’s father, Howard. Back in September, we even spoke to “Iron Man” writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby about the connection between Howard Stark and Captain America, and they told us that the story of Tony’s dad was “too interesting to walk away from” in future films — among other hints about the character they shared with MTV.

It’s also worth noting that recent rumors have actor Tim Robbins pegged to play Howard Stark in “Iron Man 2.” Given Marvel’s propensity for cross-pollinating characters (and the actors who play them), even the decades that separate the settings of “Captain America” and “Iron Man 2” might not prevent us from seeing the same actor play Stark in both films — especially with such an accomplished actor as Robbins playing the role.