What Do You Want to See in Captain America?

What Do You Want to See in Captain America?

What characteristics are the most important to see on the big screen?

Editorial Opinion
By DogsOfWar - Jan 26, 2010 09:01 AM EST
Filed Under: Fan Fic

The biggest question that gets asked around here is when are they going to announce who is playing Cap already? There has been all sorts of speculation as to who would be best to play the part from top A list actors to up and comers to virtual unknowns. Hell, its even been thrown out to make him CGI so we can see the true Cap up there. Sure, that has been in jest, but it speaks to the true passion in which we fans want to see one of the most iconic superheroes done faithfully. So, that leads to the question: What is most important to see in a live action adaptation? I have tried to boil this down to seven essential ingredients and want to see what matters most to you. I would like you to take the time and rank these in the order of importance as they translate to the big screen.








1. ACTING
No one wants to see a poorly acted movie, no one. How important is this when compared to looks or other Cap characteristics? Do you need to see a top list thespian who will be trading lines with the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, etc…? Does a relative rookie who can do a decent enough job fit the bill as long as he nails the overall look?
2. HEIGHT / BUILD
Marvel lists Captain America at 6’2” and 220 pounds. Most illustrations make him look even larger. As most any comic book character is drawn to the height of physical appearance it will be very difficult to fully look like Cap unless you are a world class athlete or WWE star. Height is crucial too as Cap will be interacting with the likes of Thor and Iron Man in the Avengers movie(s). Most will agree that Hugh Jackman did a terrific job as Wolverine but his 6’4” height was pretty evident.
3. AGE
This starts out as an origin movie with Steve Rogers just setting out into the adult world and becoming the super soldier. Actors being mentioned for the role are ranging in age from early twenties of some unknowns to as old as 46 (Brad Pitt). How close should the Actor portraying Cap be to his character? Keep in mind if everything goes well, we are looking at a role that could be held for over 10 years in both solo and Avengers movies.
4. HEAD
Blond hair, blue eyes and a square jaw are some of the key aspects of this beloved comic book icon. Obviously, hair dye and contacts can take care of the first two but you want it to look right or is that not a big of importance when compared with everything else. If the actor has a soft chin, will that stop you dead in your tracks right there.?
5. LEADERSHIP
Captain America is a leader of men. He has to be someone you are willing to follow into Hell if need be. He also has to be someone that some of the most powerful beings in the world will follow and trust. Where does this rank among our ingredients?
6. NATIONALITY
I almost didn’t put this in but it is a hot button topic for some. Does Captain America need to be played by an American? Is the role so iconic that no one else will do? Is it a role played by an actor and you want the best person, no matter where they are from, to play him?
7. COSTUME
This has been another issue thrown around a lot. In regards to this ranking it doesn’t matter which costume is used (WWII, classic or ultimate to name a few). The big question is how important is any costume next to the other categories as far as being on the big screen. My guess is we will see different versions as the movie goes from origin story to present day to Avengers team up. Feel free to state what you want to see most and I will compile that data as well.




I will compile the data over the next 3 days (longer if the postings are still going) and rank them. Please take the time to rank these categories from 1 to 7 with 1 being the most important aspect to 7 being the least. I have listed the categories below for you to copy and paste if you choose. Of course any other comments are welcomed and I will try to incorporate as much of that in my findings.

Acting
Height / Build
Age
Head
Leadership
Nationality
Costume

All of these are important to us but try to use all numbers 1 through 7 as these categories rank against each other.
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bleedthefreak
bleedthefreak - 1/26/2010, 9:23 AM
i want chris pine the dude was already a captain once and it was great
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 1/26/2010, 9:44 AM
ARMIE HAMMER, SAM WORTHINGTON, JASON LEWIS, RYAN McPARTLIN, TEDDY SEARS, MICHAEL WEATHERLY or LEO D as CAP!!! ; D

Oh and a good movie!!!
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 1/26/2010, 9:47 AM
Acting - 2
Height / Build - 6 (Hollywood can do magic)
Age - 3
Head - 3
Leadership - 1
Nationality - 7 (Actors/fictional hero, nuff said)
Costume - 2


The Leadership has got to be spot on!


Oh and ARMIE HAMMER for a young STEVE ROGERS!!! ; )

bleedthefreak
bleedthefreak - 1/26/2010, 9:50 AM
@LEEE777 Leo D would have been better a few years ago same with Damon. honestly i would rather will smith over Jensen Ackles or your fav Worthington those picks both suck because Ackles sucks and Worthington is Australian
DogsOfWar
DogsOfWar - 1/26/2010, 9:55 AM
LEEE- I think you've got your rankings reversed if I'm reading your comments right.

1 is the highest (most important aspect)
to
7 is the lowest (least important aspect)
JoshWilding
JoshWilding - 1/26/2010, 9:58 AM
Great article DOGS! :)

Acting - 6
Height / Build - 5
Age - 6
Head - 5
Leadership - 5
Nationality - 5
Costume - 6

Ryan McPartlin fits all of these categories perfectly!!!

Cap America
DogsOfWar
DogsOfWar - 1/26/2010, 10:03 AM
Thanks guys,

I know ALL of these categories are important but if you can try to rank them from 1 to 7 compared against each other, it will help to boil the info down.
ukboy28
ukboy28 - 1/26/2010, 10:06 AM
Acting - 5
Height / Build - 6
Age - 4
Head - 6
Leadership - 6
Nationality - 5
Costume - 5

really great article :)
invalensname
invalensname - 1/26/2010, 10:10 AM
Acting- 3
Height / Build- 5
Age- 6
Head- 1
Leadership- 4
Nationality- 7
Costume- 2
ukboy28
ukboy28 - 1/26/2010, 10:14 AM
ah ok dogs :

Acting - 1
Height / Build - 3
Age - 5
Head - 7
Leadership - 6
Nationality - 4
Costume - 2

tea@ lmao :)
Wadey09
Wadey09 - 1/26/2010, 10:22 AM
Acting- 1
Height/Build- 2
Age- 3
Head- 5
Leadership- 5
Nationality- 4
Costume- 1

the actor who gets the honor of portraying one of the most revered Marvel heroes needs to know how to act.
he needs to be the right height and build otherwise anyone could play him. and that would be a mockery.
it would be a worse insult than Catwoman (film).
the designers need to pay homage to Cap's uniform. it would be great to see his classic or Ultimate WWII costume. but it needs to be functional and believable as a uniform.

knock these requirements down and we could have a film worthy of mentioning along the Dark Knight.
Superheromoviefan
Superheromoviefan - 1/26/2010, 11:03 AM
The movie actor must be perferct.Everything it's important for a good movie.
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 1/26/2010, 11:32 AM
DOGS @ Oops!!! : D
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 1/26/2010, 11:37 AM
Bleed @ : P
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 1/26/2010, 11:38 AM
SHF @ Its HOLLYWOOD, nothing will ever be perfect dude, sad but true.
InTylerWeTrust
InTylerWeTrust - 1/26/2010, 1:06 PM
Acting - 1

Leadership - 2

Height/Build - 3

Costume - 4

Age - 5

Head - 6

Nationality - 7

I can't think of a single actor who fits all those qualities. Matt Damon, 6 years ago, definitely (except height, but everything else perfectly). But at the moment, can't think of anyone.

Good article Dogs.
DogsOfWar
DogsOfWar - 1/26/2010, 2:54 PM
@Poni-Maybe I should add that as another item. I'd be very interested to hear your rank of these categories.

Sorry about the IM/Wizard article. I totally forgot about the much better one you did.
ArkAngel
ArkAngel - 1/26/2010, 5:10 PM
Acting 1
Height / Build 4
Age 3
Head 7
Leadership 2
Nationality 6
Costume 5

I like him to be white please...
UltimateGuardian
UltimateGuardian - 1/26/2010, 5:11 PM
Acting 1
Height / Build 4
Age 3
Head 7
Leadership 5
Nationality 6
Costume 2
georgia49th
georgia49th - 1/26/2010, 5:42 PM
weird al Yankovich lol...
no seriously
Good actor
muscular
young
American
Costume must be cool
LightningArmour
LightningArmour - 1/26/2010, 6:35 PM
1
2
7
4
3
5
6
Aaron mother[frick]ing Eckhart IMO.
Aaron Eckhart Pictures, Images and Photos
Acting- He's a really good actor, Check out TDK, or Thank you for Smoking. Hisd two best rolls IMO.
Height/Build- He's Six feet tall, and seems to be in pretty good shape, and could always put on some muscle for the roll.
Age- He's like 40 or 41 I think. And for me, this is not a problem in the least. Put Steve's age in the early 30's for the first movie instead of early 20's. Eckhart is still pretty youthful looking, he can pull off 30. I mean, really, 30 makes more sense to me. I mean, when you think of Captain America, what comes to mindÉ Some baby faced pretty boy in his mid 20`s or a more grizzled and hardened guy in his 30's/40's? And you have to take into consideration that once he's unfrozen, he'll still be all young and shit, and would look out of place next to RDJ, Sam Jackson, and Ed Norton ans so on.
And quite frankly, I think the story would work somewhat better with an older Cap, at least in his motivation for the SSP. Think, he's in his mid 30's, his best years are quickly leaving him behind, and he feels like he's accomplished nothing spectacular. He sees all these young men going off to war, being heroes, fighting to make a better world etc. and so he wants to be a hero to, he wants to do something, and so on and so forth, then bam, Super Soldier program. This scrawny, almost middle aged artist gets new youth injected into him.
Same for Bucky. He CAN NOT be a 12 year old in this. Make him the one in his early 20's. Make him a headstrong punk that Steve plays father figure to. Then when he resurfaces as Winter Soldier, he'll still be the proper age.
Head- Blonde Hair, Blue eyes. And look at that [frick]ing chin. Look at it.
Leadership- Aaron Eckhart is again perfect. The man is charismatic as [frick]. Refer to the two rolls I noted earlier. Both movies feature him just being awesome at speaking. And in TDK especially, he just gives a bunch of uplifting speeches. Now imagine him giving a rousing speech about patriotism and shit.
Nationality- I would prefer an American, but as long as they fit I'd be fine with it. That's where Sam unWorthington gets shot out of the water for the part. That useless [frick] can't hold an accent to save his life.
Costume- For the origin, I'd go Ultimate WW2 Costume, but after that, I don't know.
Wadey09
Wadey09 - 1/26/2010, 10:02 PM
@Poni
'nuff said.
and love the pic!
BTW i OWN that volume!
DogsOfWar
DogsOfWar - 1/26/2010, 11:23 PM
Poni-That was a very eloquent speech, very well written. It is a little too idealistic for casting any human being that walks this Earth, but excellent nonetheless. I think thats what got me started with this whole article because there is no real Captain America out there. What is most important to translate into film. As I've said before, they are all essential qualities and just because one category might be at the bottom, doesn't mean its not important.
DogsOfWar
DogsOfWar - 1/26/2010, 11:37 PM
No doubt. As long as there is no sex scene with him using his wings, I'm in!
thwhtGuardian
thwhtGuardian - 1/27/2010, 12:11 AM
Acting: 1
I mean this is self evident to me, he has to be able to not only act well in his own movie, but also against the likes of RDJ and Edward Norton in the Avengers movie. You need top class acting to pull that off.

Height / Build: 6
If movie magic can make tom cruise look bad ass I'm sure it can do the same with who ever they get, as long as he's taller than rdj and shorter than thor we're good.

Age:4
He has to look like he's in his prime, and actually be young enough so that he looks that way for the sequels.

Head: dead last
Hair dye and contacts make a world of difference.

Leadership: 2
This goes along with acting ability, you need to get someone who actually looks and sounds like he could go toe to toe with thor and iron man.

Nationality: 5
He's Captain AMERICA...enough said.

Costume: 3
It needs to fully look like Captain America, he's iconic. Don't mess around with that.


Ideally I'd cast John Wayne. But since the Duke is currently unavailable I'm fairly open minded. I like mat damon for the role, but I'm down for anyone who can really pull off that WWII no nonsense kind of persona.
MisterFixit
MisterFixit - 1/27/2010, 3:39 AM
Steve McQueen?:-D i can see him tea@ acting 7,build 5,age 5,head 5,leadership 7,nationality 3,costume 7. For young Steve,it could be a little expensive,but i'll suggest the kind of CGI used on Benjamin Button
Shaman
Shaman - 1/27/2010, 7:56 AM
1. COSTUME (without the costume, the movie should NOT even be made)
2. NATIONALITY (if he ain't american, i ain't interested)
3. LEADERSHIP (Must be displayed naturally)
4. AGE (late 20ies, early 30ies)
5. ACTING (skills are a must but lack of experience is understandable)
6. HEIGHT / BUILD (wooden blocks and camera angles can be used. An athlete's build isn't asking the impossible)
7. HEAD (Make up & CGI exist for a reason)

But why not go with someone that fills every single requirement the character needs? A.K.A JENSEN ACKLES!!!
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 1/27/2010, 10:33 AM
In any movie, any character, anywhere, acting is THE MOST important thing. If the person is not convincing in the role they are playing, then all the red white n blue, blond haired, square jawed, blue eyed muscles in the world wont mean SHIT. When people talk about acting for some reason they seem to think it means they have to be all emotional and Shakespearean or something..you just have to convince that you are the person that your are pretending to be..thats all! Its also much easier said than done. Next is obviously the over all look, but its not like they are gonna get Paul Giammati to play him anyway is it? Rest assured who ever they pick will have more than a passing..or maybe just a passing resemblance(good enough for me)
thwhtGuardian
thwhtGuardian - 1/27/2010, 12:32 PM
Steve McQueen would have been perfect as well.
BubbaDude
BubbaDude - 1/27/2010, 2:18 PM
word to the McQueen, he could even have done the motorcycle scenes! too bad they didn't make this movie in 1964.....



but as for today, I don't really care who they cast as long as he is a great actor, looks like Steve Rogers, and is in his early 20's. Not too much to ask for, I hope.




...and if they "X-Men" up the costume I'm really going to be pissed.



My biggest fear is that they will get the characterization wrong.
peterparker420
peterparker420 - 1/27/2010, 5:32 PM
I am with MULTI 100%!!
Spock
Spock - 1/27/2010, 6:23 PM
These are all valid points, however when u have an Iconic character just like Cap. It has to stay close to the source material, It shouldn't be deivanted from. Just get as close as you can.
Acting 1
Height / Build
Age 4
Head 6
Leadership 5
Nationality 3
Costume 2
loganoneil
loganoneil - 1/28/2010, 10:49 AM
Guys - you forgot one... FIGHTING/ATHLETIC ABILITY! I don't want to see some guy who looks and acts like good ole' Cap, but can't fight for [excrement]! Don't forget people, this IS CAPTAIN FREAKIN' AMERICA we're talking about here! If he's gonna' "wield the shield", he better god-damn look like he knows how to use the bloody thing (CGI aside)!
LightningArmour
LightningArmour - 1/28/2010, 6:52 PM
Easy. Use wires and stuntmen for athletic crap, and really, how hard is it to use a shield?
And you know damn well they'll CG the shield any time he throws it. Otherwise it'll look all crappy like in the old Cap movie.
foxfan
foxfan - 1/28/2010, 9:40 PM
well, i remember reading that the director envisions captain america as indiana jones meets saving private ryan. if he can pull that off - an epic war movie and adventure thrill ride - i won't ask for anything else!
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