Director Joe Johnston may not be handling the directorial duties for the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger but the screenwriting pair of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are back. While promoting their new film Pain & Gain with Nerdist, the conversation inevitably turns to Captain America: The Winter Soldier where they revealed that oversight, for the most part, comes from Kevin Feige and less so from Joss Whedon. "Umm, we talk to Kevin a lot; we don’t see Joss that much, because, obviously, he’s got a movie and a TV show that he’s trying to roll out, so he can’t be popping into our room as often," said McFeely. Not totally surprising, as I imagine the solo films have to line up to a certain point with The Avengers 2 but not to such a great degree that Whedon needs to be in the room with the screenwriters and looking over the shoulder of the directors. More likely, Whedon gives an update to Feige and he is the individual with the task of sheepherding, so to speak. "Kevin’s the guiding force, at least the one we deal with. He doesn’t usually say, you know, “Don’t do this or this because we’re going to do this over here,” but he’s certainly, I’ve said it before, he’s the dungeon master. He’s the last word. One of the reasons Marvel is so good at what they’re doing is Kevin. Kevin is a film guy and kind of a geek guy in the best possible way," added Markus.
When talk progressed to the film's villains, which have been confirmed to include the likes of Crossbones (Frank Grillo), Batroc the Leaper (Georges St. Pierre) and obviously the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), the screenwriting pair insinuated that they tried to sneak in one more villain. "There are the [villain] favorites I’m always trying to wedge in, but the problem is you can’t wedge in a giant, flying head. It’s not like MODOK can pop up in one scene. But, I think you’ve seen in the casting announcements that a couple a snuck in," stated McFeely. And when the interviewer revealed his enthusiasm for Modok, Markus replied, "There’s a rights issue there, somehow."
If you recall back to the first Captain America's film release, the screenwriting pair revealed they were very keen on using Modok in the sequel and even went so far as to say they wanted Peter Dinkalage in the role but apparently there's legal issues there.
Correction: It looks as if the screenwriters are stating there might be an issue with Modok appearing in Days of Future Past, not Winter Soldier.
Chris Evans returns as Capt. Steve Rogers aka Captain America in an all new Marvel Studio adventure. When Rogers stumbles across an old ally long thought dead he uncovers many secrets S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) desperately sought to keep from him. Add in the nefarious Crossbones (Frank Grillo) acting on the orders of a larger threat and Captain America will need all the allies he can find to save his long lost friend. Directed by the Anthony and Joe Russo (Community) and based on a screeplay from Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor: The Dark World, Pain & Gain) Capatain America: The Winter Soldier arrives in theaters to save the day April 4, 2014.
Running Time: Filming in progress
Release Date: April 4, 2014
MPAA Rating: This Film Has Not Yet Been Rated
Starring: Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Frank Grillo, Toby Jones,Jeremy Renner (rumored), Emily VanCamp
Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Written by: Christopher Markus (screenplay), Stephen McFeely (screenplay), Joe Simon (comic book), Jack Kirby (comic book), Ed Brubaker (concept and story)