Is the 1940s setting a tough sell for a modern audience?
I think it’s the job of any movie to establish the reality of that world. Whether it’s modern day Manhattan, or a pirate ship, or a space ship, as an audience member you need to convince me that what’s happening is happening now and it really matters to those characters. It’s not purely the domain of this movie – it’s the challenge of any storyteller, any filmmaker.
For the public, Captain America isn’t quite in the echelon of Superman or Batman, but he does have one of the most iconic costumes in comic books…
Yeah, that’ll benefit us just from recognition factor alone. I think as people get to know the character and the story, past that first visual recognition, they’ll only be more intrigued.
Are you hoping that Captain America will show that sub-genres are possible in superhero movies?
Yeah, constantly showing people new worlds and new ideas. The Marvel comic book universe is an embarrassment of riches. So many ideas and stories and settings that we’ve only just scratched the surface of. There’s definitely more to tell that keeps it alive in ways that are fresh and exciting. The whole conceit of the film starts with the known history and says ‘If you’re willing to come with us, let’s peel back the layers of history…’ Being completely respectful – we’re not suggesting that this is what really happened, and that real people didn’t give their lives – but showing the secret Marvel history, that maybe there was an organisation called Hydra, and an organisation on the other side called the Strategic Scientific Reserve that fought these incredible battles with these amazing villains and machines, and if things had gone very differently history may have been rewritten.
How easy will it be to transition Cap to the modern day?
That’s the next stage. We’ll be headed towards The Avengers. But I think the future is unwritten – there may be opportunities to go back. We haven’t thought too far ahead about that, but the characters and the world… it’d be a shame to leave it all behind. If it made sense, if there was a way to do it logically that didn’t involve Cap getting into his time machine!
What will blow fans away the most in this movie?
The action’s pretty spectacular. Joe storyboarded the truck chase sequence in Raiders Of The Lost Ark, for god’s sakes – it doesn’t get much better than that. And obviously he’s had many, many directing credits since then, only refining his sense of action and shooting ability. There are going to be some pretty incredible sequences, in ways that are unexpected for what it is. These action sequences have to rattle modern audiences. And it’s an emotional story – at the end of the day it’s quite risky how emotional it is, this character’s journey, and where we take him and where he ends up. I think people could be very moved by it. It’s not just action – there’s a real opportunity here for people to leave the theatre feeling moved in a way that may be unexpected for this type of genre.
Read more: Captain America Producer Speaks! http://www.sfx.co.uk/2011/06/17/captain-america-producer-speaks/#ixzz1PWsFMOG9