Captain America has a director...

...and it's Joe Johnston.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39036

Good choice, I think--definitely the right sensibilities for the job.

 

Good Choice

Love The Rocketeer and October Sky. As you say, he has the right sensibilities for this.

 

Not a bad pick at all.

 

I think he really wanted this.

 

Yeah. He's a good choice.
If Captain America is even half as fun and brilliant as The Rocketeer...it'll still be great.

 

Loved October Sky so he' done very good work before. Haven't seen The Rocketeer though.

 

They really have to drop "First Avenger" from the title. how dopey sounding. "Captain America" really evokes a modern sensibility

 

Huh?

Captain America is going to be a very hard sell overseas (maybe even to a good portion of the American public), where he's generally seen as a meatheaded jingoistic thug (a cause not helped by Ultimate Cap actually being written as a meatheaded jingoistic thug) (though Obama being elected is probably good for a Cap movie; by the time the movie opens America's image can be improved significantly); "First Avenger" is tying a dubiously saleable concept to a far more saleable one.

Seems like a decent choice for director; October Sky has some of the same motifs as a Cap origin story, actually (and, of course, The Rocketeer (I've never actually seen that)).

 

^ You should rent or buy it. It's great fun. Don't expect anything of the calibre of Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Dark Knight, but it is a fun, feelgood comic adapation that deserved to do better at the box office.

The other thing about The Rocketeer is that it's very much in the vein of a Cap movie. WW2 setting, Nazi baddies, tongue-in-cheek, but not camp, respectful to its comic origins, patriotic without being cheesy and a lot of fun. So I hope JJ harkens back to it a bit when making Captain America - though this movie needs to be bigger, bolder and better.

On that subject, Timothy Dalton for the Red Skull, anyone?

 

The Rocketeer was fun, so I guess he's a natural choice for Captain America (I didn't even think of him!). I think he could do good. Not a great choice, but decent enough.

 

A good portion of the American public hasn't read a comic in years, if ever, and wouldn't see him as anything but a cheesy costumed hero.

And the overseas market, they can redub and reedit the movie so Cap's the villain.

 

I loved The Rocketeer and October Sky but "Jurassic Park 3" was mediocre and "Jumanji" was meh

So he's an okay director. He won't come and totally revamp Captain America into some stripper who wore a Miss America suit and was killed LOL

 

You don't like Jumanji?! I used to love that movie as a kid. It was great, great fun that somehow still managed to be creepy and kind of still manages to creep me out to this day...

 

What's this assumption that everyone overseas will hate Captain America? People all over the world go to see Spielberg and Michael Bay movies, laden as they are with US patriotism. I'm a liberal leftie who doesn't like much of US foreign policy (but not American people!) and I'll be going to see this movie, unless it gets Battlefield Earth type reviews. Few would argue with the US' role in WWII and people can tell that this is a f*cking fantasy figure, FFS!

Besides, since the election of Barak Obama, everyone loves America again!

 

I'll grant Michael Bay, but since when have Spielberg films featured overt US patriotism? I suppose you could argue the total lack of non-yank allied troops in 'Saving Private Ryan' showed a tiny bit of bias but have you seen 'Amistad'? We got to be the heroes for a change!

As for this director; he seams to be competent to say the least. He made what I would call a "modern" superhero movie about a decade before anyone else and unlike allot of action adventure films made around the same time, 'Rocketeer' holds up quite well.

Just an idle thought, but I wonder if they plan on having Stark's father somehow involved in the 'Captain America' move, to further tie the eventual film franchise together. For one thing, he been described as basically the Howard Hughes of the Marvel Universe and was around at the time and if I recall the Stark scene in 'Incredible Hulk' implies that Tony knew all about the old Super-Soldier program...then of course there's the fact he has THE sheild. Just a thought.

 

It's a matter of degree; Captain America, as a concept, is generally thought of as, as I said, a jingoistic neocon-type.

I highly doubt that was anything other then an in-joke.

 

I don't know... I still strongly resent Johnston for the cock-up that was Jurassic Park 3.

As for Captain America abroad: even the name, detached from character, recalls chest-thumping jingoism and the general "I'm right because I'm stronger" attitude that people have come to associate with the United States over the last half century. The key for marketing him abroad is to make his role as a Nazi-fighter prominent (which should be easy if it is indeed a period piece), recall that moment in time when America was seen as a force for liberty instead of profit-driven bullies. Opposition to Hitler and the Nazis will play well pretty much everywhere except the Middle East. That said, I don't particularly think "The First Avenger" will do much to improve his image: I can't imagine that the Avengers are any better known globally than the reality of Cap's decent and humane character. I suspect it's primary role is simply to link the films, make it obvious they're part of the same overall narrative.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

Oh I don't doubt it, but I think it (and those other points) can be built on. I'm not suggesting Stark's father be a central character in the film, or even a cameo for that matter. Just wondering if it would be appreciated by the fans if there's a little easter egg snuck in there.

Hell, I think a cameo by Hugh Jackman as a no name Canadian squaddie would be worth a giggle...but I don't think they want to tie into the X-Men franchise, plus I'm not sure if the new origin film will establish just how old Logan really is. I understand the comics go back on forth on that point too.

To be fair, I'd argue that the problems with JP3 were script related, not directorial. It simply wasn't an interesting story and I thought the actors and director did ok with what they had to work with. He certainly isn't a hack and there are much less talented directors out there who seam to keep getting their hands on genre flicks with potential and make absolute pig's ears of them.

 

While some may see the name as jingoistic, at least we have Ray Davies on our side:

"Now I'm calling all citizens from all over the world
This is Captain America calling
I bailed you out when you were down on your knees
So will you catch me now I'm falling"

...I think it depends on how it's played and how things go in the world. I recall hearing that some overseas audiences booed the scene at the end of Superman 2 where he flies the flag back to the top of the White House. By the time this movie comes out the opinion of the US, for better or worse, will be very different from what it is now.

 

I hope to god they get rid of the dorky wings on the sides of Captain America's mask like they did on The Ultimate's Captain America.