Captain America movie rumor. And the role has been offered to...

[Sci]

I'll be the first to say it.

Captain America's NOT black.

I agree. It's not realistic even for a comic book. The American Government and America in general was horribly racist in the 40's and there is no way they would pick a black guy for Project Rebirth.

And there's no way they could do a story that captures the spirit of American patriotism and liberty without setting the origin in the 1940s? I mean, Iron Man's origins have continually shifted in time period and location from 1960s Vietnam to 2000s Afghanistan. Why can't they do a different version of Captain America that still captures the spirit of the character?

Or is the spirit of the character itself too essentially white?

 

[Ethros]

I'd rather not see Will Smith in it, if only because I'm getting sick of him being in every other sci-fi blockbuster these days. Independence Day, Men In Black, Wild Wild West, I Robot, I Am Legend, Hancock etc

 

[Klaus]

Jesus.
God save me from children.

As someone who is also demographically-challenged by today's marketing standards, I sympathize. But don't hold your breath!

..and I think the WWII origin of Cap gives it at least a chance to have some appeal outside our shores. Especially as it'll hopefully come out in an atmosphere a little less anti-American than the one our current regime hath wrought.

 

[nx1701g]

Part of me says this is a false rumor, but I could see them going for Will Smith because he's a box office draw.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Dick Purcell was 36 when he played Captain America.
Bill Bixby was 45 when he started playing D. Bruce Banner.
George Reeves was almost 40 when he first played Superman. Of course, back then adults played these roles, not little boys.

Captain America needs a certain maturity.

Which is at odds with his age: he's barely 20 when he volunteers, which would make him around 25 by the time World War II is over.

And there's no way they could do a story that captures the spirit of American patriotism and liberty without setting the origin in the 1940s? I mean, Iron Man's origins have continually shifted in time period and location from 1960s Vietnam to 2000s Afghanistan. Why can't they do a different version of Captain America that still captures the spirit of the character?

Captain America has his foundation solidly in World War II; that's the era when he makes sense; the Last Good War. He doesn't work in Vietnam or the Gulf or the current Afghan conflict.

He particularly can't be contemporized because the whole premise is that he's a man out of time; a guy who goes to sleep in 1945 and wakes up in ____ (as time goes by, the implications of this jump become vaster and vaster; there's a considerable difference between waking up in 1964 and waking up in 2008).

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

Interesting, not the first time Marvel has changed a character's color:

Kingpin = Black
Nick Fury = Black

Hmmm...

 

[CaptainCanada]

Kingpin's race is of little consequence, and the change was motivated by not being able to find a white guy with the right physical profile; depending on what version of Fury you're using (Millar's black version was clearly intended to not be a World War II vet, though that was later tacked on by other writers), neither is his.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Interesting, not the first time Marvel has changed a character's color:

Kingpin = Black
Nick Fury = Black

Hmmm...

And I honestly didn't mind the change for either of those characters, and even considered them both to be examples of brilliant casting, but I don't think it would work for Cap if they did the story right. Cap's origin is too tightly tied to WW2, and as sad as it is to say, the American government of the 40's simply would not have turned a black man into their national symbol.

The only way to make Will Smith work as Cap is to totally change the origin and backstory, and superhero movies that do that almost always fall flat. Consider that an early draft of Watchmen had Dr. Manhattan preventing 9/11 instead of winning the Vietnam war. That would have enabled the producers to set the story in modern times, but would have been an unforgivable violation of the source material that would have done more harm to the story than good.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

And there's no way they could do a story that captures the spirit of American patriotism and liberty without setting the origin in the 1940s?

Yes, by doing the "Red, White and Black" origin story. But that's a different story from the mainstream Captain America story - it's really a different movie.

There could be a kernel of truth in these rumors if the "black Captain America" that was the subject of the original experiments is featured in the movie along with his white successor. And that Captain America could also have his own movies.

But Wil Smith would really be too old for the role anyway. They really should be looking for actors who are under 25. Sorry to sound age-ist, but the Army is not going to be experimenting on middle-aged guys. They'd opt for a healthy 18 year old recruit as having the best odds of success

..and I think the WWII origin of Cap gives it at least a chance to have some appeal outside our shores.

Screw that, not at the expense of the integrity of the material. But if this is being done by Marvel and not by some soulless money-grubbing Hollywood studio, I have more faith that integrity might actually trump profit for a change.

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

Interesting, not the first time Marvel has changed a character's color:

Kingpin = Black
Nick Fury = Black

Hmmm...

And I honestly didn't mind the change for either of those characters, and even considered them both to be examples of brilliant casting, but I don't think it would work for Cap if they did the story right. Cap's origin is too tightly tied to WW2, and as sad as it is to say, the American government of the 40's simply would not have turned a black man into their national symbol.

I thought the black Kingpin was atrocious.

I think there are some ways to make a 'black' Captain America in the 1940s and make it true of the age and such.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

He particularly can't be contemporized because the whole premise is that he's a man out of time; a guy who goes to sleep in 1945 and wakes up in ____ (as time goes by, the implications of this jump become vaster and vaster; there's a considerable difference between waking up in 1964 and waking up in 2008).

But either way, the contrast is interesting.

 

[Galactus]

Yeah this is a false rumor. When is this movie suppose to come out anyway. It should be easy to cast Cap, he is a big blond white guy. Problem is he acts like someone from the Midwest but is from New York.

I think Marvel should have dropped the name years ago for the character, because they definitely dislike the name. I think the name is the only thing that has kept the character from being as popular as Superman, Batman, and Spider-man.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I think there are some ways to make a 'black' Captain America in the 1940s and make it true of the age and such.

But not true to the Steve Rogers Captain America.

When is this movie suppose to come out anyway.

2011.

I think Marvel should have dropped the name years ago for the character, because they definitely dislike the name. I think the name is the only thing that has kept the character from being as popular as Superman, Batman, and Spider-man.

No, that wouldn't work at all.

 

[A beaker full of death]

I thought the black Kingpin was atrocious.

Why? I thought Michael Clark Duncan was an inspired casting choice. He looks every inch like the Kingpin - except he's black. And since there's nothing intrinsic to the character that required he be white, there was no reason not to cast a black man.

 

[dru]

They'd opt for a healthy 18 year old recruit as having the best odds of success

Since Captain America Comics #1, Steve Rogers was always sickly and unfit for regular military duty.

 

[Galactus]

No, that wouldn't work at all.

Sure it would have worked. They just didn't do it. I know people that would love Steve Rogers, if he didn't have a big "A" on his head. Think about the people that typical read comics since the 60's. They are not people that have this great love for the USA, quite the opposite. The comic has addressed this time and again because they know it is a problem for the readers.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I can accept certain people being white or black, like The Green Lantern would be a nice black character, but there are certain people you don't change. Batman is white. Superman is white. And I think, generally, anybody here would want Captain America white. Plus, do we really need another Will Smith hero movie every two years?

 

[Aragorn]

Under political correctness, all white superheroes can and should be open to any and all races. But a non-white superhero needs to stay true to the original race as created.

Hell, if Spawn were bigger, I'm sure there would've been cries of racism with D.B. Sweeney being cast as Terry Fitzgerald.

 

[Nedersong]

i'm very wary of the way they're going to ewrite Cap myself.

For one thing, he's very patriotic and patriotism is hated by millions of people in America.

 

[CaptainCanada]

They hate the kind of patriotism that they think Cap exemplifies, the "U-S-A! Four more years of Bush!" sort; the actual character is a thoughtful Rooseveltian.