Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER
Starring Chris Evans (Steve Rogers / Captain America), Hugo Weaving (Johann Schmidt / The Red Skull), Hayley Atwell (Agent Peggy Carter), Dominic Cooper (Howard Stark), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes), Tommy Lee Jones (Colonel Chester Phillips), Neal McDonough (Dum Dum Dugan), and Stanley Tucci (Doctor Abraham Erskine) with a special appearance by Stan Lee and a pre-credits appearance by Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Directed by Joe Johnston
Produced by Kevin Feige
Written by Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely
Music By Patrick Doyle
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Run Time: 2 hours and 4 minutes
World Premier: July 19, 2011, the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, California
Opening Weekend Box Office: $65 million (North America)
Worldwide Box Office: $370 million
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Memorable Captain America: The First Avenger Quotes
âCaptain America is one of the most iconic, one of the most famous, well-known characters in the Marvel canon. There’s only one or two characters that are older than that, that have a longer history than Captain America does in the Marvel comics. I would say he’s right up there with Spider-Man â his being well-known; his being beloved; his being an iconic piece of comicdom, of America â and it’s a big challenge to bring him to the screen.â â Kevin Feige discussing Captain America.
âThe Red Skull is the premier villain in the Captain America history. He, in a lot of ways, is Steve Rogers’ opposite. He went through the same process that transforms Steve Rogers into the Super Soldier known as Captain America, but it went very wrong. He forced Doctor Erskine to put him through the procedure before it was ready. As a result, it left him disfigured, it left him scarred, but it did transform him into a Super Soldier; into a stronger-than-normal human being.â â Stephen Broussard discussing the similarities between Captain America and The Red Skull.
âI think the major difference between Skull and Cap, they’ve both had the serum, and the serum seems to augment certain qualities that each of them have. Cap is much more in tune with other people, I think. Schmidt is in tune with himself, and his own needs, and his own ego, so I suppose it augments that. From that point of view, they’re quite opposite.” â Hugo Weaving discussing the differences between Captain America and The Red Skull.
â… She’s quite stubborn, a slightly frustrated woman who struggles with being a woman in [the 1940’s]. But more importantly, she’s a modern woman and she sees something in Captain America that she relates to, and [they become] kindred spirits. He treats her very differently to how she’s been treated by lots of men, in this kind of dominated world she lives in ⌠She’s very much a fighter.â â Hayley Atwell describing the Peggy Carter character.
âIt was exciting to do a movie [set in the 1940’s], but at the same time, you don’t want the character to be someone that you can’t identify with â that’s the tricky thing about Captain America. Part of my initial concern was how to not make him boring. Because he’s such a good guy, there really isn’t much comedy or wit to the character. There’s no snark. There’s no demon. I think the goal became to ground him in a way that made him feel identifiable, or just relatable. Most people can relate to a character that feels somewhat like an outsider. An underdog. Someone who is taken for granted but inside has a lot of good to offer and wants to do the right thing. He just wants a chance. I think that’s something a lot of people can identify with.â â Chris Evans discussing the challenges of bringing Captain America to life.
âIt was the best decision I ever made.â â Chris Evans reflecting on his decision to accept the part of Steve Rogers.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Fun Captain America: The First Avenger Facts
Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for Timely Comics, debuting in Captain America Comics # 1 in 1941.
In 2007, with the first Iron Man film still in production, artist Ryan Meinerding was tasked with developing the first pieces of concept art that would show what a Captain America movie might look like. Then, on May 6, 2008, four days after the theatrical release of Iron Man, Marvel Studios announced that a Captain America film (then titled The First Avenger: Captain America) was officially in development. Initially, the idea was for the first part of the Captain America film to take place in the past and then for the second part to take place in present day. Kevin Feige ultimately resisted this however, stressing his belief that for the film to work, the audience had to spend a sufficient amount of time with Steve Rogers ⌠before he is Captain America. Feige’s vision would ultimately transform the Captain America film into a period piece, and this was instrumental in Marvel Studios’ hiring of writers Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely, who’d been longing to write such a superhero film.
Director Joe Johnston (who directed the 1991 superhero period piece The Rocketeer) was atop Kevin Feige’s wish list to direct Captain America: The First Avenger and he was approached to do the film, but scheduling conflicts initially prevented Johnston from accepting the job. A subsequent film slate reshuffling by Marvel Studios eradicated the scheduling conflict however, and Johnston signed-on to direct the Captain America film. It was decided early-on that Captain America: The First Avenger would shoot primarily in England, making it the first Marvel Studios production to take place outside of the United States.
28-year-old American actor Chris Evans was cast to portray Steve Rogers / Captain America in April of 2010. Evans had initially been on an internal no-hire list for the role due to the fact that he’d portrayed Johnny Storm in two Fantastic Four films that were produced by Marvel Studios for 20th Century Fox in 2005 and 2007. Amidst dozens of audition videos and screen tests however, the casting team kept coming back to Evans, feeling he was the perfect person for the part. Marvel Studios therefore reached out to Evans, but he was not interested in the role. In fact, Evans reportedly turned Marvel Studios down three different times amidst reservations of being tied-down to a specific role for so long (he was initially offered a nine-picture deal, but Marvel Studios ultimately reduced the contract to six). Eventually, the two parties came to terms, and Marvel Studios had their Captain America!
Interestingly, one of the actors that attempted to land the role of Steve Rogers / Captain America was none other than 27-year-old Romanian American actor Sebastian Stan. Marvel Studios decided against Stan in favor of Evans, but Stan had left an impact, and he was soon offered the part of Bucky Barnes. To sell the role, Kevin Feige explained the comic book history of the character to Stan, particularly the character’s transformation into The Winter Soldier, as seen in writer Ed Brubaker’s sensational Captain America comics run that began in 2004. Stan ultimately signed-on, inking a multiple-picture deal with Marvel Studios. From there, the Bucky Barnes character was re-imagined for the Captain America film. In the comics, Bucky was Captain America’s teenage sidekick during World War II, but the character was made over to be Steve Rogers’ same age and childhood best friend and a sort of big brother figure for Steve in the film.
Actor Wyatt Russell also auditioned for the role of Steve Rogers / Captain America. A decade later, Russell would be cast as John Walker for Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and The Winter Soldier during which he would briefly take on the mantle of Captain America following the retirement of Steve Rogers in Avengers: Endgame.
Actor John Krasinski was another young man that was heavily considered for the role of Captain America. Krasinski would go on to portray Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic in Marvel Studios’ 2022 film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.Â
On April 5, 2010, and on her 28th Birthday, Hayley Atwell was cast to portray Agent Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger. In the weeks and months that followed, Hugo Weaving (Johann Schmidt), Tommy Lee Jones (Colonel Chester Phillips), and Stanley Tucci (Doctor Abraham Erskine) all joined the film.
Marvel Studios knew that bringing Captain America to life in the 2010’s was going to be an immense challenge. In an era where anti-heroes were celebrated and even villains were beloved, a straight-forward, no-nonsense type of heroic character that is good to the core of his soul and embodies American patriotism to such an extent that he wears the colors of the American Flag on his uniform, was going to be a tough sell. This is the reason Kevin Feige championed the period piece approach as passionately as he did. Feige knew what countless comic book readers knew. The hero may be called âCaptain Americaâ, but the real hero is Steve Rogers; that stubborn, short, skinny, weak, sickly ⌠and undeniably courageous kid that longed to serve his country and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Telling that side of the Captain America story on film was no easy task though.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Chris Evans had gotten himself into phenomenal shape for the role of Captain America. Physically speaking, he was â as he absolutely should have been â the complete opposite of âweak and skinnyâ, so it just wasn’t possible to dress him up and let him portray the version of the character that became affectionately known as âSkinny Steve.â However, that’s where CGI came in! With the assistance of Lola Visual Effects and in coordination with actor Leander Denny, Marvel Studios used a combination of in-camera trickery as well as some VFX magic to bring âSkinny Steveâ to life. What essentially had to be done was the meticulous removal of the muscles from Chris Evans’ neck, his shoulders, his chest, etc., in an effort to make Evans appear weak, frail, and sickly on film. Evans furthermore had to be physically shrunken down digitally so that he appeared shorter, and when this wasn’t feasible, the body of Leander Denny was used with his head being digitally replaced with Evans’. The final product on film is more or less a composite of Chris Evans and Leander Denny. The body double in fact filmed many of the same scenes that Evans did so that the effects team could create a believable composite.
In creating Captain America: The First Avenger, Director Joe Johnston used digital cameras to create a film palette that would aesthetically appear to viewers similarly as common 1940’s photographs and videos do, with colors muted and desaturated.
Captain America: The First Avenger commenced shooting on June 28, 2010. The film was shot throughout England with re-shoots occurring in Los Angeles. The pre-credits scene was filmed in New York City’s Times Square on April 23, 2011.
While filming Captain America: The First Avenger, select cast members flew to San Diego, California to take part in the annual San Diego Comic Con and the Marvel Studios presentation there on July 24, 2010. This was Marvel Studios’ fourth independent SDCC presentation and Captain America: The First Avenger was promoted during a panel that included Kevin Feige, Director Joe Johnston, Chris Evans, and Hugo Weaving. From there, Marvel Studios also treated the SDCC fans in Hall H to the first-ever assembling of their Avengers as The Avengers Director Joss Whedon brought out Chris Evans (Steve Rogers / Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Robert Downey Jr (Tony Stark / Ion Man), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff / The Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton / Hawkeye), and newcomer Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner / The Hulk) to stand together on stage in a preview of what fans had coming in just under two-years.
The Avengers Director Joss Whedon made select revisions to the Captain America: The First Avenger script in order to better tie the film into the modern world of The Avengers.
Captain America: The First Avenger was unique in that it was Marvel Studios’ fifth MCU film, but chronologically speaking, it was, in terms of the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline, the first, as it primarily takes place during the 1940’s. En route to the production of this film, Marvel Studios had referenced the Captain America character in three of their previous four films, teasing his imminent arrival. Captain America’s iconic shield (or at least a prototype of it) could be seen in both Iron Man and Iron Man 2 in Tony Stark’s workshop along with a copy of a Captain America Comics # 1 comic book amongst Howard Stark’s personal belongings in Iron Man 2, while the serums that transformed Bruce Banner into The Hulk and Emil Blonsky into The Abomination in The Incredible Hulk were described as attempts by the military to replicate the serum that transformed Steve Rogers into Captain America. All of these Easter-eggs and references would be thoroughly explained in Captain America: The First Avenger.
One of the most interesting ways that the previous Captain America teases in Marvel Studios films were brought full circle was through the Howard Stark character. Howard of course appeared in Iron Man (via photograph and portrayed by Gerard Sanders) and in Iron Man 2 (portrayed by John Slattery). Both of these instances were presented in a retrospective way (old photographs, old videos), as Howard Stark had been dead for years by the time the primary stories of Iron Man and Iron Man 2 take place. Captain America: The First Avenger however allowed Howard Stark to exist in real time on-screen, and Marvel Studios had a lot of fun with presenting the character that is sort of the grandfather of the MCU. 30-year-old English actor Dominic Cooper was cast to portray the younger Howard Stark, who was in his late-twenties during this film, but already firmly positioned as one of the era’s greatest minds and as a revolutionary inventor, scientist, engineer, and businessman, that was working closely with the SSR (the Strategic Scientific Reserve). The SSR was, by the way, the precursor to S.H.I.E.L.D., connecting Nick Fury’s line in Iron Man 2 that Howard was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s founders. Through Howard, Captain America: The First Avenger takes us to the World Expo where we see Howard showing off one of his latest inventions: a flying car. It is no coincidence that the car is a shiny red color that reminds viewers of Iron Man, for it should. In fact, the World Expo would be re-imagined as the Stark Expo by Tony Stark as a tribute to his late father in Iron Man 2 more than 65-years after the events of this film. As the film progresses, we later see just how instrumental Howard Stark was to the creation of Captain America. Howard worked directly on Project: Rebirth and after Steve Rogers became Captain America, Howard continued to work closely with Rogers, going so far as to design Cap’s uniform and his iconic shield. Without Howard Stark, there would have never been a Captain America (at least not as we know him).
Captain America’s shield in Captain America: The First Avenger started out in a triangular shape, which was true to the comics. Cap later takes up his iconic circular shield which is said in this film to be composed of Vibranium, a substance that Dominic Cooper’s Howard Stark describes as âthe strongest metal on Earth.â The origins of Vibranium would later be traced back to beyond the stars, but more specifically to the Nation of Wakanda on Earth. Wakanda was referenced during Iron Man 2, courtesy of a blip on a screen behind Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark and would be audibly name-dropped in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron by Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner. From there, 2016’s Captain America: Civil War would introduce the costumed Protector of Wakanda: The Black Panther (in actuality Wakanda’s Price T’Challa). That same film would later take viewers to Wakanda for the first time during a credits scene, with the technologically advanced Nation being fully explored in 2018’s Black Panther. It was later revealed in the 2020 MCU tie-in book The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of The Avengers and Beyond by Troy Benjamin that the Nation of Wakanda had been implanting covert spies within the United States for years, and that the activities of the United States Government were closely monitored. Through their spies, Wakanda obtained several top-secret documents and telegraphs, including those pertaining to The Red Skull and Hydra, the SSR and Project: Rebirth, and Captain America in an effort to keep tabs on humanity’s Super Soldier creations. While Schmidt and Rogers were regarded as the first two Super Soldiers to be successfully engineered, Wakanda’s Black Panther existed in the 1940’s and far before, boasting a variety of physical enhancements derived from the miraculous Heart-Shaped Herb, sacred to Wakanda.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Another way Marvel Studios brought the MCU together in Captain America: The First Avenger was the glowing Cosmic Cube known as the Tesseract. This object first appeared as a sketch in one of Howard Stark’s notebooks (which we see Tony Stark observe in Iron Man 2). It next showed up in the post-credits scene of 2011’s Thor where it was shown to be in the custody of S.H.I.E.L.D. (and linked to Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.). Captain America: The First Avenger serves as a sort of origin story for the Tesseract. Hugo Weaving’s Red Skull is shown to be on a restless hunt for the Cube back in the 1940’s that ultimately takes him to Tonsberg, Norway, which just so happens to be the same location that 2011’s Thor showed the Frost Giants invade Earth during the Viking days of old. Schmidt goes so far as to label the Tesseract as the âJewel of Odin’s Treasure Roomâ in Captain America: The First Avenger, and he also recognizes a carving of Yggdrasil (the World Tree) in Tonsberg. These story elements linked Captain America: The First Avenger to Thor in an effective way and allowed Marvel Studios to add a little pizzazz to an otherwise largely grounded film as once Schmidt obtains the Cube, he is able to use it to power a series of highly advanced weapons used by Hydra throughout the film. The Tesseract would go on to be one of the most important pieces of MCU lore far beyond Captain America: The First Avenger, as it was Loki’s theft of the Cosmic Cube that The Avengers would largely revolve around and after that, the Tesseract would be revealed as one of the six Infinity Stones and serve as a key element of the plot of 2019’s Captain Marvel.
On Captain America: The First Avenger’s opening weekend, the 2011 San Diego Comic Con was held in San Diego, California. Marvel Studios decided against hosting a panel at the event, but a special screening of Captain America: The First Avenger did take place for event attendees. It was at this year’s SDCC that the Marvel One-Shots were announced with a promise to create a series of short films based on MCU characters to further expand their stories. The first Marvel One-Shot (titled The Consultant) was released on September 13, 2011, as a Special Feature on the Blu-ray release of Thor, while the Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer was released as a Special Feature on the Blu-ray release of Captain America: The First Avenger on October 25, 2011.
In Captain America: The First Avenger, the first shot viewers see of Arnim Zola is through a huge magnifying glass; a nod to the appearance that he traditionally has in the Marvel comics. The schematics for an even closer adaptation for Zola from the comics can be seen on a table next to Zola in the film.
In Captain America: The First Avenger, when Chris Evans’ shirtless Steve Rogers emerges from the transformation pod, Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter curiously touches his chest. This move was a completely reactionary one that was improvised by Hayley Atwell and the surprise on her face was genuine. Atwell admitted in later interviews to being taken aback by Evans’ physique and to having nearly broken character in that moment.
In Captain America: The First Avenger, the fight aboard The Valkyrie between Captain America and The Red Skull ends when The Skull handles the Tesseract. The Cosmic Cube seems to consume and kill The Skull, but 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War would reveal that The Red Skull was actually teleported from The Valkyrie to the planet Vormir, where he would be forced to serve as the guardian of another Infinity Stone: the Soul Stone. Hugo Weaving did not return to portray The Red Skull in that film, nor Avengers: Endgame, as actor Ross Marquand would portray The StoneKeeper in those films. When The Red Skull is teleported, he drops the Tesseract, and the Cube falls into the ocean where it is later retrieved by Howard Stark for the SSR / S.H.I.E.L.D.
Captain America: The First Avenger marked Stan Lee’s fifth cameo for Marvel Studios within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Though Lee had no part in creating Captain America, he was the person that decided to bring Cap back as a Man Out of Time in 1964 and have him join The Avengers in Avengers # 4. Stan Lee was furthermore the person who changed Captain America’s shield from triangular to circular, making the change in a short story that he penned in Captain America Comics # 3 (Lee’s debut as a Marvel writer).
After being first seen in Iron Man 2 amongst Howard Stark’s possessions, Captain America Comics # 1 is shown being read by soldiers in Captain America: The First Avenger. This was the actual comic book in which Captain America first appeared, with a cover that featured Captain America punching Nazi Fuhrer Adolph Hitler. This concept was revisited as part of Captain America’s USO tour during the film. An actual near mint issue of Captain America Comics # 1 is estimated to be worth $2 million today. In 1941, a copy of the comic book would have cost one only 10-cents.
Actress Laura Haddock briefly appears in Captain America: The First Avenger, seeking an autograph from Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers / Captain America during the USO tour. Haddock would go on to appear in two of Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy films in the role of Peter Quill’s mother Meredith. The appearance of Haddock in this film has since been explained away by fans as the character seeking Cap’s autograph being Peter Quill’s grandmother.
Steve Rogers’ Marvel Cinematic Universe birthday is July 4, 1918, which would make him more than 90-years old at the time he was pulled out of the ice by S.H.I.E.L.D., having been frozen since 1945; some 65-years.
The credits scene for Captain America: The First Avenger served as a teaser trailer for The Avengers.
The first trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger aired on February 6, 2011, XLV during the NFL’s Super Bowl XLV.
Captain America: The First Avenger was the final Marvel Studios film to be distributed by Paramount Pictures.
On October 15, 2011, at the 2011 Scream Awards, Chris Evans won the Award for Best Superhero for his role as Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger. On February 7, 2012, Captain America: The First Avenger was honored at the Visual Effects Society Awards, winning in the category of Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture.
The final scene of Captain America: The First Avenger that sees a revived Steve Rogers wake up in a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility en route to stumbling into the middle of modern-day Times Square where he encounters Samual L. Jackson’s Nick Fury was confirmed to take place in the year 2011 in the book Marvel Studios – The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline. Rogers wakes up in a world in which the events seen in Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man II, and Thor have already happened.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
My Captain America: The First Avenger Review
I’m an enormous fan of Captain America: The First Avenger and as I get into this review, I must admit to being an enormous Captain America fan as well. My favorite overall Marvel Comics character is Loki, for he is a character I find very easy to relate to. As for Captain America, he is my favorite Marvel Hero. My love for Cap isn’t so much because I relate to him, but more so because Captain America is the kind of person that I strive to be. He’s simply a good man. His bravery and patriotism inspire me, as does his strict moral code and his drive to not only be better, but to make the world and the people around him better. Those are the attributes that I most love about Captain America, and about Steve Rogers as a character specifically.
So yeah, I may have come into this film from a different place than a lot of people, and I will furthermore add that writer Ed Brubaker’s run on Captain America in the comics is my favorite run on the character of all-time. That run was still ongoing at the time this film was made and then released, with Brubaker’s run ultimately concluding in 2012. I cannot recommend this run highly enough to anyone who may be reading this wondering where they should start in reading Captain America comics. You’ll learn everything you need to know about the character as you read through the issues, and you’ll recognize a lot of familiar names and faces if you’re a fan of Marvel Studios’ movies.
Being the fan of those comics that I am, combined with my fandom for the character itself made Captain America: The First Avenger an easy film for me to get lost in and I loved everything about this movie!
The story of Captain America revolves around Steve Rogers, a sickly and orphaned young patriot who is obsessed with serving his country. His poor heath and stature make that impossible though, but Steve does not stop trying. Eventually, a German doctor from the SSR finds himself moved by Steve’s resolve and brings him aboard the SSR’s top-secret Project: Rebirth campaign in which efforts to create an army of Super Soldiers are ongoing. This work is based on a formula of Doctor Erskine’s design that was used by force to transform a German scientist and the head of the Nazi’s Hydra Division into the monstrous Red Skull. Rogers is successfully enhanced by Erskine’s serum, but Erskine is murdered mere moments after the transformation is completed, bringing an end to the notion of a Super Soldier army, as the secrets pertaining to Erskine’s serum died with him. After being recruited to sell war bonds, Rogers eventually finds his way into the ongoing Second World War after his best friend Bucky becomes a prisoner of war and he is nudged in that direction by SSR Agent Peggy Carter, whom Steve is infatuated with. Rogers’ efforts in freeing Bucky and hundreds of other soldiers with him, lead to the SSR following behind Captain America’s command, decimating multiple Hydra strongholds. Bucky presumably loses his life on one of these important missions and everything leads to showdown between Captain America and The Red Skull that ends when Steve makes the ultimate sacrifice and saving countless American lives. 65-years later, Captain America’s body is retrieved from the Arctic ice, his body having been preserved by some combination of the cold and the Super Soldier serum. Steve awakens in the custody of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which grew out of the SSR following the presumed death of Captain America, founded by Peggy Carter, Howard Stark, and Col. Chester Phillips). He panics initially but regains his composure after he is confronted by Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury. America’s very first Super Soldier is now a Man out of Time.
In praising Captain America: The First Avenger, the first positive right off the start for me was the World War II backdrop. I’m a sucker for that era and I thought the way Marvel Studios combined historical fact with comic book fiction to tell their story was perfect. Of course, Hydra â being evil and all â would have ties to the Nazis, and the same goes for the vile Red Skull; of course he would admire the vile Adolph Hitler! There may not be a better way in fact to establish an intended villain as such than by giving them ties to the Nazis. There is no complicated origin story for The Red Skull where we learn how he was abused and damaged and consequently molded into this hideous monster. No, The Red Skull is simply an evil man that is evil for the sake of being evil. He wants to rule the world and he is willing, if not anxious, to eliminate anyone that stands in the way of his goals or opposes his world view. This maniac loves nothing and loves no one, and through his abduction of Doctor Abraham Erskine and seizing of the Tesseract, he positions himself in a place where he has the means to achieve his goals. As stated in the film, his target is everywhere. His target is everyone, sans his Hydra loyalists, and even they are disposable. As the threat of The Red Skull grows, it isn’t just America that needs Captain America. The world needs Captain America.
And Chris Evans WAS Captain America! I cannot imagine anyone else portraying Steve Rogers in live action at this point, and quite frankly, I don’t want to. I’m fine with Captain America living on as a mantle taken up by others who courageously carry on the legacy of Steve Rogers. In Captain America: The First Avenger specifically, Evans captured the passion, the humility, and even the stubbornness of Steve Rogers both during the âSkinny Steveâ scenes and after Cap’s transformation. I really loved that Marvel Studios found a way to have Evans perform the âSkinny Steveâ scenes. It’s Chris Evans’ face and it’s Chris Evans’ voice in those scenes and it’s therefore Captain America that gets beaten up in that ally behind the movie theater and it’s Captain America that struggles through the rigorous Project: Rebirth training. Perhaps most importantly, it’s Captain America who we see steal the heart of Peggy Carter ⌠long before he is actually Captain America! Then, after his enhancement, Chris Evans simply embodies everything that Captain America is! Yes, part of that is physical, and that was necessarily, and let’s not gloss-over the time and work Evans spent to get himself into superhero shape, but Evans nailing this part went far beyond the physical. He brought such a rich nobility to the role, and it is that nobility and sincerity that allowed his performance to never cross that dreaded line of campiness. As viewers followed Captain America’s heroic journey throughout this film, watching him chase-down Doctor Erskine’s assassin on-foot, watching him go behind enemy lines to specifically rescue his best friend, watching him lead the fight against Hydra and stand against The Red Skull, they don’t just see Captain America ⌠they see Steve Rogers, and this is why the film worked despite all of the negativity surrounding the type of hero Steve Rogers is. Regardless of race, color, or creed, I believe everyone can relate to Steve Rogers in some way and I adored Chris Evans’ performance!
Another strong point of this film was the Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter romance. This was beautifully written, as it was never crammed down the throats of viewers; written instead to develop slowly and organically. This film is utterly captivating every time that Steve and Peggy are on the screen together. It’s a treat to watch their small interactions and subtle admiration of one another. He is of course just smitten with Peggy’s beauty and defiance while she is taken aback by his courage and persistence. Both of them are most attracted to who each other are on the inside and their love story is an easy one to cheer for, as neither one knows quite how to make that leap, relying upon cryptic words and casual glances to covey how they feel. When they finally kiss before Steve boards The Valkyrie, it’s a positive, feel-good moment that serves to only play into the tragedy of their story, as with each of them having at long last put it all out there, they don’t get the chance to take that next step due to Steve’s Arctic crash. The chemistry between Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell was just perfect in this film, and their love story was one that Marvel Studios would find a way to continue telling as the MCU evolved.
Another element of this film that I really liked was how the Bucky Barnes character was executed. Ed Brubaker made a lot of changes to the Bucky Barnes character throughout his comic book run, and really, if one isn’t a fan of Bucky, they probably won’t find that run very appealing, but Bucky is amongst my Top-5 favorite Marvel comic book characters; mostly due to the things that Ed Brubaker did with him, and the character retcons that he made. I was a big fan of the decision to make Bucky Steve’s age and childhood best friend in Captain America: The First Avenger and the chemistry that Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan had in a brotherly sort of way. Stan was perfectly cast in my opinion, especially given where I thought his story may go, and I’ll write a lot more about Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes when I review Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but this was a great introduction to the character.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the action scenes in Captain America: The First Avenger. Cap’s unauthorized solo rescue of the 107th Infantry behind enemy lines was amazing, and Cap’s entire one-man war against The Red Skull and his men aboard The Valkyrie was really cool (who can forget that grizzly propeller scene)! Beyond that, I just loved the whole look and the feel of this film; the depiction of life and society and culture as it was during those World War II days. I’ve only ever read about those days in history books and whatnot, but I find that time period to be highly intriguing and tragic and beautiful all at the same time, and this film captured all of that; the triumph, the horror, the propaganda; all of it.
As for my favorite scene from Captain America: The First Avenger, it is easily the training sequence when Tommy Lee Jones’ Colonel Phillips casually tosses what is thought to be a live grenade into the middle of his soldiers in an effort to prove a point to Doctor Erskine, who has labeled Steve Rogers as his choice for Project: Rebirth. Phillips spews âYou don’t win wars with niceness, Doctor. You win wars with gutsâ, as he tosses the grenade and then watches as every one of his panicked soldiers take cover ⌠except Steve Rogers, who without a second thought, jumps atop the grenade. It’s a beautiful scene that defines the courage of Steve better than perhaps any other scene in the MCU. And he isn’t even Captain America yet!
Last but certainly not least, I admired Stanley Tucci’s performance as Doctor Abraham Erskine in Captain America: The First Avenger. The Erskine character is one of the most unsung heroes in the MCU, along with Iron Man‘s Ho Yinsen (portrayed brilliantly by Shaun Toub). Without Yinsen, there would be no Iron Man, and without Erskine, there would be no Captain America. Erskine’s compassion and genuine kindness bled through in Tucci’s performance, and the quiet scene between Doctor Erskine and Steve Rogers the night before Steve’s transformation is just so good, complete with Erskine’s reply to Steve’s question of âWhy me?â ⌠âThe strong man who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength and knows compassion. Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man.” That’s Captain America!
In closing out this review, I have to discuss the end of the film and Steve Rogers’ crash into the Arctic. This was the first MCU scene to move me to tears. The emotion of the scene and the way Steve and Peggy both refused to say âgoodbyeâ out loud was terribly heartbreaking, and the scene was tied together beautifully with Steve’s âPeggy, this is my choiceâ, line; a throwback to Peggy’s conversation with Steve following Bucky’s (presumed) death. From there, Steve was ushered into an entirely new world, discovering that nearly 70-years had passed while he was in the ice. My only problem with this scene â and it wasn’t a problem really; just more of a preference â was that Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff was not the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent that Steve woke-up to when he finally opened his eyes. Knowing now where the relationship between those two characters would go, I just think that would have been a nice touch here.
I came out of Captain America: The First Avenger with the feeling that Marvel Studios had created a masterpiece, and I could hardly stand to wait to see The Avengers!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Highlights of Captain America: The First Avenger:
Chris Evans is Captain America
Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter
Chemistry between Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell
Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes
Shaun Toub as Doctor Abraham Erskine
Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Chester Phillips
Captain America’s Shield In-Action
âSkinny Steveâ and Transformation into Captain America
Chemistry between Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan
Period Piece Cinematography
Howard Stark at the World Expo
Tear-Jerking Ending
Pre-Credits scene featuring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:
Steve Rogers / Captain America. Bucky Barnes. Johann Schmidt / The Red Skull. The Howling Commandos. The Strategic Scientific Reserve. Hydra. Arnim Zola. Peggy Carter. Colonel Chester Phillips. Project: Rebirth.
Saved as a favorite, I really like your web site!