During a recent press conference for Universal’s The Wolfman, Director Joe Johnston let some more details slip about his upcoming Marvel film The First Avenger: Captain America. Johnston talked about pre-production, casting, locations and more.
On the status of pre-production and on whether or not they’ll be casting an American to play Cap,
“Absolutely. Oh yeah. I don’t think we could make without an American playing the part. But we may not be casting in America because we’re going to London and we’ll probably shoot in the UK for most of it because it takes place in Europe. But, yeah, we’ll definitely be casting.”
Johnston said that he’s testing five or six guys for the role, and casting needs to be complete by March 1st 2010
“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.”
On shooting the Star-Spangled Super Hero in 3D,
“No, we’re shooting Captain America in HD. But you can take any film now and make it 3D. We’re not going to be shooting it specifically to be 3D, but this is the first film I will have shot in high def and I think it’s one of the first’s Shelly will shoot in high def too, it’ll be a new experience for both of us. And it gives you a lot of flexibility in post which I learned from Walter Murch…when you shoot a movie in high def if you want to zoom in 200% you can. But in film you can only go 15 or 20% at most before you start seeing grain and degradation. In high def you can basically reshoot the film in post – if you want to – so I’m looking forward to trying that.”
According to STYD, Johnston confirmed that the Red Skull will indeed be the villain of the first movie and told them a bit more about why they decided to set the majority of the movie during WWII:
“Virtually the entire story except the bookends are in World War II because we all recognize we have one chance to tell the origin story of how he became Captain America, you can’t tell a modern story and then go back and tell the origin story. If you’re going to do it, let’s do it. Let’s do it first. Everyone wanted to tell an origin story. There was a version where it was a modern story and it didn’t work.”
Johnston also spoke with the LA Times and offered his explanation as to why a scientifically enhanced super-soldier would venture out in the WWII battlefield wearing the bright blue costume, emblazoned with the Stars and Stripes.
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.
It was never in the comics 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.
Johnston also said that the USO costume will not be the only costume that Cap dons during the course of the movie.
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 Cap 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.
Devin, over at CHUD is reporting that during a conversation with Johnston, he stated that “The Invaders” will have a major presence in the film. Johnston stated,
“They’ll be in the entire second half”
If you’re unsure who The Invaders are, from the official Marvel Wiki –
At the end of 1941, as the United States enlisted in World War II, Captain America, Bucky, Human Torch, Toro, and the Sub-Mariner joined forces to oppose Master Man, a superhuman American Nazi who attempted to kill English Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Churchill was so impressed by the heroes he encouraged them to remain together as the Invaders. The Invaders took aim at the superhuman agents of the Axis powers, as well as engaging the enemy on the battlefield.
The Invaders soon moved their operations to England. While battling Baron Blood (Falsworth), they met Lord Montgomery Falsworth the original Union Jack of World War I. He joined their team, only to be incapacitated when Baron Blood shattered his legs. Lord Falsworth allowed the team to use his mansion, and his daughter joined as Spitfire. Eventually, Brian Falsworth joined the Invaders as Union Jack, taking his fathers alias.
Current Members of The Invaders include;
Blazing Skull (Mark Todd), the Fin, Union Jack (Joseph Chapman)
Former Members of The Invaders include;
Bucky (James Buchanan Barnes), Bucky (Fred Davis), Captain America (Jeffrey Mace), Captain America (William Nasland), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Miss America, Silver Scorpion, Sub-Mariner (Namor McKenzie), Tara, Thin Man, Human Torch (Jim Hammond), Spitfire, Toro (Thomas Raymond), Union Jack (Brian Falsworth), Union Jack (Montgomery Falsworth), U.S.Agent (John Walker), Whizzer (Robert Frank)
We told you just a little while ago about the start of casting for Captain America, and we’d made mention of Chuck actor Ryan “Captain Awesome” McPartlin wanting to play Cap. but that he hadn’t indicated whether or not he’d auditioned. Well, in a quote he’s given to moviehole – McPartlin said,
“The one thing I can’t stand are these actors that are twittering about auditioning for Captain America. It’s really tacky. “With that said, it is in the casting process and like many other actors, I read for it, so we’ll wait and see what happens. Regardless, I’m pretty psyched to be Captain Awesome for the time being.”
[Source] Collider | STYD | LA Times | Moviehole | CHUD
