Captain America: The First Avenger
The one who never gives up awakens.
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Production
Budget
$140 000 000
Revenue
$370 569 774
Director
Scenario
Christopher Markus
Composer
Producer
Actors
Chris Evans
Captain America / Steve Rogers
Hayley Atwell
Peggy Carter
Sebastian Stan
James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes
Tommy Lee Jones
Colonel Chester Phillips
Hugo Weaving
Johann Schmidt / Red Skull
Dominic Cooper
Howard Stark
Richard Armitage
Heinz Kruger
Stanley Tucci
Dr. Abraham Erskine
Short description
Set during World War II, Captain America: The First Avenger follows Steve Rogers, a frail young man from Brooklyn who is rejected by the army repeatedly because of his poor health. Determined to serve, he volunteers for an experimental program that transforms him into a super-soldier. As Captain America, he joins the fight against HYDRA, a secret scientific organization led by the ruthless Red Skull, and works alongside Bucky Barnes and Peggy Carter.
Joe Johnston directed the film, which came after The Wolfman in his filmography. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely wrote the screenplay, and Kevin Feige produced. Chris Evans plays Steve Rogers, with Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Chester Phillips, Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt, and Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark. The production involved a large credited cast and crew.
Made for about 140 million dollars, the film grossed roughly 371 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a 6.9 rating from over 960,000 votes, while on TMDB it has a 7 out of more than 23,000 votes. A critics' rating of 7 out of 10 from 274 reviews places it in line with the audience scores. It runs 124 minutes.
What's left behind the scenes
- Chris Evans turned down the role three times before accepting it. After that, he met with the director and producer, who convinced him to take on the role.
- The Red Skull's repulsive appearance is explained by the fact that his body rejected the serum that made him even more insane than before. The same thing happened in the action film "The Incredible Hulk" (Louis Leterrier, 2008) with Emil Blonsky, when gamma radiation transformed him into the Abomination.
- When Stark demonstrates his "Reversion" technology, a red painted model rocket with black and white checkered patterns hangs from the ceiling behind the crowd. This is a copy of a rocket from the Belgian graphic novels "Tintin: Destination Moon" and "Tintin: Explorers on the Moon" by Georges Prosper Remi, also known under the pseudonym Hergé (1907-1983).
- Howard Stark transports Captain America behind enemy lines aboard a Beechcraft Model 18 aircraft. Launched into production by Beech Aircraft Corporation in 1937, this aircraft was widely used by both military and civilian aviation for cargo transportation, supply delivery, and evacuation of the wounded.
- David Self, who wrote the draft screenplay for the film, named Captain America his favorite superhero from childhood. “My father once told me that one day I would become Captain America myself.”
- Captain America was created by writer Joe Simon and artist Jack Kirby and first appeared in the comic book Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941).
- During the tour Steve Rogers went on to raise funds for the war effort and promote war bonds, a burning tank is shown in newsreel footage. It is an American M5 "Stuart" tank with German identification markings painted on the sides. This is how filmmakers in Hollywood did things in the 1940s – lacking German tanks for filming, they would repaint American ones.
- Alice Eve and Keira Knightley were considered for the role of Peggy Carter. Emily Blunt turned down the role.
- As producer Avi Arad said: “It’s interesting to make films about Captain America because he’s a man from the past who finds himself in our time. Thus, we see our world through the eyes of a man who considered early 20th-century America to be ideal. But 60 years have passed, and have we become better than we once were?”
- Three actors involved in the film previously worked with Matt Smith on the series “Doctor Who” — Toby Jones (who plays a character named Arnim Zola in the film) played the Dream Lord, David Bradley (playing the guardian in the tower) portrayed Solomon, and Jenna Coleman, who plays Connie, played Clara Oswald in the series.
- To prepare for her role as Peggy Carter, Hayley Atwell trained six days a week.
- During the World's Fair episode, the viewer sees a man in a glass cylinder. This is the Human Torch, a comic book character who will fight on Captain America’s side.
- During the search for the Tesseract at the beginning of the film, Johann Schmidt kills its guardian in Norway, and splashes of blood get on the badge indicating Schmidt's affiliation with the "HYDRA" organization. The blood falls exclusively on the skull depicted on the badge, as if explaining to the viewer that this is the Red Skull.
- According to "The Hollywood Reporter", Rosamund Pike and Alexa Davalos auditioned for the role of Peggy Carter.
- Automotive designer Daniel Simon created the retro Hydra Schmidt Coupe car specifically for the film “Captain America: The First Avenger.” When creating the film car, the designer was guided by popular models from the late 1940s: Mercedes-Benz 540K, Mercedes-Benz G4, Bentley, and Duesenberg.
- The film is titled “The First Avenger,” although it is the last film about a solo avenger, as it was followed by the film about the team of superheroes with comedic elements, “The Avengers” (Joss Whedon, 2012).
- In the first episode of the film featuring Zola and Schmidt, Schmidt examines photographs of the Tesseract, including a fake image of part of the famous carved door of the church in Hillestad, Norway. On the authentic door, the hero Sigurd is depicted helping the blacksmith Regin forge a sword with which he later slays the dragon Fafnir. Zola and Schmidt conduct an experiment with the Tesseract. Later, when Dr. Erskine is talking to Steve in the barracks, Schmidt is shown in the background against an image of Sigurd listening to a bird. The bird instructs him to kill Regin and find a Valkyrie named Brunhild. The story of Sigurd is the Norse version of the story of Siegfried. This opera by Richard Wagner is listened to by Schmidt. According to Wagner, Siegfried was born of incest and is the child of two children of Wotan (Odin).
- John Favreau was initially invited to direct "Captain America," but he chose to work on "Iron Man." Nick Cassavetes was also considered to direct the film. Louis Leterrier was interested in working on the project, but Marvel Studios turned him down.
- Worldwide, the film was released with the full title "Captain America: The First Avenger," but in Russia, South Korea, and Ukraine, it was released simply as "The First Avenger."
- At the beginning of the film, the Red Skull wears a mask that is indistinguishable from his appearance before receiving the super-soldier serum. At one point, he removes the mask, revealing skin that is red and as if burned (which the Red Skull, by the way, mentions). In the film "V for Vendetta," Hugo Weaving wears a Guy Fawkes mask for several reasons, one of which is to conceal burns. (Guy Fawkes was an English Catholic nobleman, the most famous participant in the Gunpowder Plot against King James I in 1605. The Guy Fawkes mask design was created in 1982 and has since become an internet meme and a symbol of protest movements.)
- Initially, the filmmakers intended to include Namor the Sub-Mariner and his cousin, the Prince of Atlantis, in the plot (they were supposed to appear in cameo roles), but later abandoned this idea.
- Sebastian Stan was considered for the role of Captain America, but ultimately received the role of Bucky.
- Jones tells Dugan in the tank that he studied German for three semesters at Howard University, after which he began studying French. In the version released in Germany, Jones says he studied mechanical engineering at Harvard, but not for long because the female students there were very unattractive.
- When Steve Rogers bursts onto Times Square, surrounded by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, an advertisement for Baskin-Robbins ice cream is visible behind Nick Fury. In one of the Baskin-Robbins establishments, Scott Lang, or Ant-Man, will find work after his release from prison in the superhero action film "Ant-Man" (Peyton Reed, 2015).
- The last film produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
- Joe Johnston was the artist for Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981), and there are some references to this in "Captain America: The First Avenger" (2011): - The Tesseract "absorbs" Red Skull almost as the Ark killed the Nazis in the Indiana Jones film; - In a fight with Captain America, one of the "HYDRA" agents dies after being hit by an airplane propeller; - Holding the Tesseract, Johann Schmidt, or Red Skull, notes that "...and Hitler's over in the desert chasing magic trinkets."
- The appearance of the Red Skull’s flying fortress, which appears at the end of the film, borrowed heavily from the Spriggan from the game “Aero Fighters Assault” by “Paradigm Entertainment” (1997-1998), developed for the “Nintendo 64” platform.
- When visiting the World's Fair at the beginning of the film, Bucky tells Steve: "The future is coming," foreshadowing Steve Rogers' journey to the future at the end of the film.
- Those who auditioned for the lead role included John Krasinski, Mike Vogel, Chace Crawford, Garrett Hedlund, Channing Tatum, Wilson Bethel, Scott Porter, Michael Cassidy, and Patrick Flueger. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jensen Ackles, John Cena, and Matthew McConaughey were also considered.
- Unlike other actors who have played the Avengers in various adaptations, Chris Evans didn't even have to audition for the role of Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America – the filmmakers were so confident that he was a perfect fit for the role.
- The Red Skull, played by Hugo Weaving, searches for a mysterious artifact in the form of a cube. In the science fiction action film "Transformers" (Michael Bay, 2007), Weaving voiced Megatron, a villain who seeks a similar object arriving from space (the AllSpark). Stanley Tucci plays the role of Dr. Abraham Erskine in the film "Captain America: The First Avenger" (Joe Johnston, 2011). In "Transformers: Age of Extinction" (Michael Bay, 2014), Stanley Tucci will play a scientist who will create Galvatron, the main Decepticon prototype, which will contain the mind of Megatron.
- For a time, it was claimed that the film's script had been secretly rewritten by Edgar Wright (a well-known British director, screenwriter, actor, and producer), however, Wright publicly denied these rumors. Starting in the summer of 2006, Wright worked on the script for the “Marvel Comics” superhero film “Ant-Man.” In early June 2012, Wright, the future film’s director, spent about a week filming test scenes. He left the project due to “creative differences with the studio” in May 2014. The film “Ant-Man” was released in June 2015.
- Hugo Weaving plays Johann Schmidt in the film. He also played Agent Smith in the “Matrix” film trilogy (1999, 2003, 2003). Smith is an Americanized version of the surname “Schmidt”.
- The name of one of the film's characters, Jacques Dernier, translates from French as "James Last".
- The Wilhelm scream sound effect: Rogers is pursued on motorcycles by HYDRA operatives, and he is forced to use a flamethrower. The scream occurs when one of the operatives instinctively swerves, loses control of the motorcycle, and is thrown from the saddle.
- Dane Cook, Kevin Jonas, and his brother Joe Jonas auditioned for the role of Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America.
- The events of the film unfold between March 1942 and May 1945 and in 2011.
- Almost until the very end of pre-production, it was believed that "HYDRA" would be explicitly a Nazi paramilitary organization, with members wearing uniforms with swastikas. Some hints of this remained in the released version of the film, but footage of "HYDRA" members attacking Allied forces was cut.
- Hugo Weaving and Stanley Tucci worked on films in the "Transformers" franchise, although they never appeared on screen at the same time. In the first three films (2007, 2009, 2011), Weaving voiced Megatron, while Tucci only appeared in the fourth film (2014).
- In the film, Bucky uses Captain America's shield shortly before falling into the gorge. In the comics, Steve Rogers is killed, and Bucky becomes Captain America.
- Neil McDonough plays a soldier in the 107th Infantry Regiment. In the miniseries Band of Brothers (2001), the actor played a lieutenant in the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, who also fought in Europe during World War II.
- A fan of the "New England Patriots" football team used technology available to the current generation and placed the face of quarterback Tom Brady on a poster for the film "Captain America: The First Avenger" (featuring Captain America looking at his shield with the caption "Vengeance"). This happened shortly before the championship game of the National Football League in 2012. Brady’s team still lost.
- The scene where Steve Rogers, who has already been given the "super-soldier" serum, chases a "HYDRA" agent includes a scene with a taxi door. The car belongs to the "Lucky Star Cab Company" fleet, whose logo is a star around which the company name goes. A similar graphic design will be on the shield from Captain America's arsenal that Steve will become.
- At the end of the film, Howard Stark finds the Tesseract and makes drawings of this artifact, which his son Tony will review midway through "Iron Man 2" (Jon Favreau, 2010).
- David Bradley and Toby Jones had previously worked together in “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” (Chris Columbus, 2002). Kenneth Branagh also starred in that film and later directed “Thor” (2011).
- When Timely Comics began publishing “Captain America,” the creators of the comic received letters and phone calls with threats from American Hitler fans.
- The first appearance of Dr. Arnim Zola in the film (on a television screen) serves as a reminder to the viewer of how this character was depicted in the comics. In the "classic" depiction, Zola is a headless torso with a preserved consciousness, with a video screen on his chest displaying his face. When Zola gathers papers before the Red Skull blows up the base, drawings of this body are visible on the sheets, as if foreshadowing the character's appearance in our time. This happens in Anthony and Joe Russo's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014).
- Tommy Lee Jones, playing Colonel Phillips, played Two-Face (also known as Harvey Dent) in the film Batman Forever (Joel Schumacher, 1995). In a 1996 crossover, Captain America from Marvel Comics and Batman from DC Comics clashed.
- The episode featuring Samuel L. Jackson, filmed in Times Square, New York, serves as a prelude to the events unfolding in "The Avengers" (Joss Whedon, 2012).
- Richard Armitage suffers from hydrophobia (fear of drowning), so the episode in which the submarine fills with water was filmed in only three takes.
- After the presentation hosted by Howard Stark, an instrumental arrangement of the song "Make Way for Tomorrow Today" (by Richard M. Sherman) begins to play.
- Joe Johnston was chosen as director due to his previous films “The Rocketeer” (1991) and “October Sky” (1999). As for “The Rocketeer,” it is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name – a combination of adventure, action, science fiction, and family film.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
