Joe Johnston revealed last month that we’d know who’s playing Captain America by March 1st and while that date has come and gone, we’ve seen a continuous flurry of reports and speculation as to who may get the career-defining role and the 9-picture contract with Marvel Studios.
It started with a large list of Captain America candidates which was quickly narrowed down and now it has grown again with the additions of two well-known young actors. The plan was to go for an American unknown and support him with a cast of stars and veterans but as of today it appears that Marvel and director Joe Johnston may be getting desperate in adding Channing Tatum and Ryan Phillipe to the list.
Before we get into the details, I can speak for us all in saying we’re tired of all these Captain America rumors, almost on a day-to-day basis. In a perfect world, they’d choose an unknown who most of us fans can feel good about and after the fact we’d get a nice long list of all those who were also in consideration for the part. Alas, this is not the world we see ourselves in today.
On the flipside of this mess, I imagine those involved in the casting process are partly gauging their decision on the response of fans to each named added to the “contender” list. Maybe we do have some minuscule say in the matter? As an example, we saw John Krasinksi (The Office) go from rumor (almost universally despised at first), to having the part (with people opening up to the idea) to being out of the running. While we have no idea how close he came or how accurate all of the reports were, he’s just one in a long list of candidates for the title role in The First Avenger: Captain America.
The Present
Earlier today, HitFix picked up the scoop that Ryan Phillippe (Crash, Flags of Our Fathers) had joined the list of contenders vying for the coveted role of Captain America and it was re-confirmed by MTV this afternoon. At the SXSW festival this weekend, Phillippe said the following:
“[I] actually am going in to meet on ‘Captain America,’ which is kind of cool… After Superman, he was kind of my favorite.”
If that wasn’t enough, Deadline is reporting their own exclusive today that Channing Tatum has been approached by Marvel but according to Mike Fleming who broke the news, he doubts Tatum would read for the role, that he’s too big and bankable for that. I would question this as I don’t think he attributed anything to the financial success of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and I wouldn’t classify Dear John as making him a bankable star, enough to not need to test for a role like Captain America.
Phillippe (left) & Tatum (right) fight for the role of Captain America
With the news that Marvel is considering bigger name stars such as Tatum and Phillippe (and Chris Evans from a few days ago) two weeks after they thought they’d have their future star pegged, we can assume they’re very fearful of making the wrong decision and that they’re getting a bit desperate. For me, neither Tatum and Phillippe (who starred together in Stop-Loss) would be good selections and they should stick with their earlier mentality of going with an unknown for the role.
To sum up where we are now with the contenders, here’s the current list of top candidates after the likes of John Krasinski and others were knocked out:
- Mike Vogel
- Wilson Bethel
- Garrett Hedlund
- Chris Evans
- Ryan Phillippe
- Channing Tatum
[UPDATE: EW is reporting today (March 16, 2010) that Garrett Hedlund is no longer in the running but that Sebastian Stan from Gossip Girl now is. Marvel is expected to make the big decision soon so stay tuned.]
[UPDATE 2: Chris Evans has been offered the part of Captain America (March 19, 2010) - Still waiting on official from his reps at CAA and Marvel]
[UPDATE 3: Chris Evans IS Captain America! (March 22, 2010)]
I’m a big fan of Chris Evans myself but I’m not sure he’s the right guy for this particular role. Then again, it’s hard to say any of these guys are. I would have to go with Vogel or Bethel if it’s not Evans, although I imagine Disney is interested in having Hedlund take the role to help hype the release of Tron Legacy later this year. It goes without saying that their choice may come down to someone not listed here.
At least we know Hugo Weaving is playing the Red Skull…
Iron Man 2 opens May 7, 2010, Thor opens May 5, 2011 , The First Avenger: Captain America hits July 22, 2011 and The Avengers is scheduled to debut May 4, 2012.
Share your thoughts in the comments and with us on Twitter @ScreenRant and @rob_keyes.
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Those who are thinking it would be a good idea to cast Cap. older need to consider carefully in what age range your putting him in.
Their's some good reasons why you wouldn't pick someone well into middle age to play Cap. First the math starts looking wrong. The U.S. entered WW1 in 1917 and WW2 in 1941. You start out with a guy that's 42 in 1941 and you have a young man of 18 in 1917. Besides by that age and after going through one world war, even if you flunked out physically and never served is going to be believable or would believe someone that age desperate to sign up for the second one?
Over the course of 24 years a guy that couldn't get into the service during WW1 with all the women at home would certainly start a family. Most have already started families by that age (42) and have lives they would rather like to enhance, not endure more hardship on some military salary or become a guinea pig.
A guy a decade younger might get away with playing someone in their mid 20's but by the time this film is released men like Eckhart, Valley, and Van Dien will be on approach to mid 40's at least. You want somebody pushing 50 playing Cap. in “Avengers?” Nah it just doesn't work very well. Don't get me wrong I liked what they did in the movies they've done. I respect the reasons for considering them they're just too old, believe me I would know…
They'd be perfect for a 'Captain America, Sentinel of Liberty” tv series it'd be 24/Mcguyver. You need somebody young that can be Cap in multiple movies and possibly spanning a decade of him doing that.
look what ever dickhead is making this movie. you are dumb, there is only 1 man for the role, yes people brad pitt, he is captian amercia,if you cant get him i will settle for the blond sheriff guy from true blood. thats all i have to say on the matter. just do us comic peope right. this is devill b once again sighing out. peace xx
this is a message for brad pitt, you better be reading diz at sum point, get ur ass off from your couch and play the role you were born to play, u are mr awesome and i tink you are under rated, but people like me still have faith in you, there will be no 1 more equiped to play this role over than you. if you are not in this movie i will not watch it, and i have always read the comics since i woz a kid, so please do me right. this is devillb sighing out. no peace this time.
The problem with this is the timeframe we are working with. In the comic, Cap was a wimp that went from ZERO to HERO from the Super Soldier experiment. So Cenna wouldn’t work even though I have said for years that he has the physique to play the Cap'n. Phillipe is SHORT, Brad Pitt is too damn old, Channing has the emotion of a chico stick and the rest don’t have the physique. My problem will be the producers finding an actor who can handle the complexity of the 'fish out of water' hero, start relatively small physically, and can beef up to Cap'n status before our eyes. That is, if they are staying true to the comic. Who can pull that off? How can they do that in the short time they have? They will have to get an actor and roid him up. Captain America is a BIG MAN, he’s not just a little buff, he's HUGE and ripped. I can’t call it with the crop of actors they are looking at.
I would also like to add that having a Black Captain America isnt a bad idea..a few of them actually were in the comics. Will Smith was rumored for the role and I think he could pull it off and do something different with the character. In Brad Pitts defense, I still feel he's too old, but if he shapes up, he can actually pull it off.
I dont understand why everyone wants some old guy to play Cap. Its like noone reads the facts about him at all they just look at the pictures. Look, artist renderings dont always actually take into account the original descriptions of Characters. Some artist make every hero and villain as massive as they think in their mind or its just their drawing style. Lets look at the described facts…
Cap was born in 1917 and therefore is 23y/o when he gets transformed in 1940…
Marvel says he gets turned from 98lb to 240lb.
He is Super-Olympic level… meaning better than all the best to compete at the olympic level ever!.. In any and all the events. So to sum it all up… take the best olympic records in history and he can do it 100% better.
His body eliminates Fatigue Toxins ie Extreme Endurance.
His Aging Process is Slowed Dramatically. SLOWED DRAMATICALLY! ie something like he ages proportionately 1yr physically for every 5 or so years that go by…Keep that in mind.
So given these MARVEL facts if he was 23 in 1940. His body was in its Prime at 23.
He was frozen in 1945 at age 28. Physically age 24 still in his Prime.
now the tricky part…
Hes been awake in our time only about 10 years… 15 tops, continuity-wise. So figuratively if he was awakened in 2000 he was 83 y/o and still 24 physically.
So now he is 93 but physically 26 y/o.
Now knowing this why would you want Brad Pitt or Sam Worthington or any of the countless others doing this movie. The actor must LOOK YOUNG BUT ACT OLD. Bring in a fresh face with charisma and a leading presence. Whoever gets the part should look somewhat out of place with IM and Thor. Im going with McPartlin, Vogel or someone said Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down). Use baggy clothes and super-impose a frail body for the begining of the movie and bulk up the actor a little.
And lets just trust Marvel. Im sure they did the same or similar figuring that i did and thats why they are doing it this way. If Marvel doesnt preserve the details who will….
Good Choice Dude!
Neither one…..Please put down the Southern Comfort………If your gonna have those two, you may as well Rupaul in the running…..
I am glad Hedlund is not anymore in the running, he looked like a child
I agree with you on having a black Cap. and Will fits the bill. Unfortunately with this being an origin story and the fans being legion it's really hard to reimagine the story. The comics are almost biblical in authority and their's this track that is consensually being laid by the studio that the fans want.
I think I do have an answer to the whole age, look, body type problem. They should readjust the script so that you have one actor that the audience sees portray Cap throughout the movie but like in quantum leap whenever Cap sees himself in any given time period he looks like he should for that time. Sort of like the gimmick that they used in “Quantum Leap.” That way all the transformational and look problems can be ignored because the audience is seeing Cap the way he sees himself, as the man he sees in the mirror in our present time. Of course the story is a reflection from Cap's memory then, which might work even better in the studio's favor because the story gets way more maneuverable in the future should trouble arise…
Very good point — I'm not a fan of that either. I like RR but I think he is better suited as Deadpool.
But, who is a bigger box office draw? Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans? Plus, RR is quite a showman. He's going to promote his movies like a California pimp.
I was thinking of Michael Jai White for Isaiah Bradley.
What theicontake said…
“He is Super-Olympic level… meaning better than all the best to compete at the olympic level ever!..”
This is referred to in the Marvel world as Peak-Human Condition.
I think most people who choose pitt, simply want him because of what he did in Troy. Just because the guy held and fought with a shield in the movie doesn't mean he is Captain America. Pitt is too thin. frankly, i don't see him as being too old, even though the man is in his 40s (yeah i was surprised to hear that too. Want to know something even odder? Gwen Stefani is also in her 40s).
I really don't see that part as a problem because they can turn the wimp into a hero the same way they did it with Tobey Maguire in Spiderman 1. I'm still not too sure as to how they did that. Either they did it with great special effects or Maguire did actually pump up for that scene, which would mean they shot the second half of that particular scene (where Peter is checking out his new physique in the mirror for the very first time and is amazed) at a later time and welded both halves together.
Honestly with this being Marvel AND Disney, I'm seriously surprised Zac Efron's name hasn't popped up yet, but it still has time to show up.
Thanks.
Im aware. I was just simplifying it. Putting it in terms the average person can relate to and still get my point. Because a lot of people look at “peak” and think just the best of your life. I was trying to drive home extraordinary strength skill and agility in every respect. Thats why I stated “Super-Olympic”.
I totally agree. And i kind of understand because those scenes were great, but he's not what marvel described. His look overall says “the cool slick con artist” to me… I need “honest to a fault Patriot”. And lets be honest, Cap should have a 6'2 Kurt Angle-ish looking body with a forever young yet battle-hardened 20something babyface.
But yeah that Gwen Stefani being 40y/o thru me for a loop as well when it was announced. Still hot tho.
Yep – he is for sure.. I think Chris Evans would have done a good job too, I just don't know how tall he is.. it would seem a little “short” if he only stood 5 foot 9″ inches tall. LOL – I don't see a character like GL being short and wimpy.. though havin gthat “look”… Superhero's from a comic artists perspective stand (when drawn) 8 heads tall (market minimum).. so Chris Evans might/would come up a little short – excuse the pun, if he isn't 6 foot 3″ plus.
RR will do it justice.. he looks the part, has that little comical charm and has really improved his physique since Blade Trinity.. heck I even started using his training program, and have seen immense results. I can't WAIT to see DEADPOOL , although I'm not sure how they are going to make him talk again… he'll probably just cut the skin from his face and open his mouth!
I don't know if they could have pulled off another actor for GL. I would have liked to see someone knew fall into the roll, but RR will do a great job none the less..
No way – no how… I don't like either of these guys as CAP. Not a chance.. Hollywood – pay attention here !!
John Cena as Captain America “Yo, Red Skull, I can and will end you. That is my duty in life, to make your skeleton face look more like hamburger and kill you Nazis off like the little mosquitoes that you be.”
Understood.
Marvel PLEASE pick someone already!!!!!
A nine picture deal was mentioned in this article, does that mean that there's three other Marvel movies that we don't know about. The other two being sequels to Captain America?
Well, it obvious now what Marvel's angle is with their selection, and theyapparantly dont think Capt. America can hold muster with the teenage crowd like the other superheroes so they're going straight for the hollywood boy look to attract the teenies to the movie.
The entire selection process has been a joke.
yeah, john cena?? maybe as the guy who took Steve Rogers place when he was fired as Captain america in “Captain America No More”…now that character goes by “U.S.Agent” or something…
Casper Van diem or Patrick Wilson…nuff said.
Hugo Weaving as Red Skull — ROCK. I wish he would get more recognition and more cool roles.