- Taking inspiration from Three Days of the Condor, the early part of the film is spent encouraging the audience to care about Cap, and then putting him in jeopardy for the rest of the film.
- When we find Cap in this movie, he’s in the midst of a daily life and has adjusted, more or less, to the modern world.
- A core theme surrounding Cap is the idea that he once used to represent America and has now become alien to modern thoughts and values due to the passage of time.
- The screenwriters see Cap as their “Gary Cooper”.
- Mackie plays Sam Wilson as a “strong man as opposed to a comic book character.”
- The Falcon’s wings are CG, though they had a practical pair on set for reference.
- As part of his preparation, Mackie developed character sub-plots in which Black Widow is a romantic love interest and Nick Fury is a father figure. Keep an eye out for that in the movie.
- The Falcon is a little more outwardly funny, but is very much a 21st century human being.
- The Falcon’s origin is more organic than the Red Skull plot arc from the comics.
- Sebastian Stan only knew (officially) that he’d be playing the Winter Soldier about a year before shooting. He found out the title at Comic-Con along with everyone else.
- Stan says he had no clue that Marvel was planning on going in this direction, but wishes he had known during filming of his torture scene in Captain America: The First Avenger.
- Stan wanted to tie in the Bucky character from the first film with the Winter Soldier character from this one, but the main focus is on the present-day iteration.
- Stan suffered a burst blood vessel in his eye on set, but used the “cool” look to add to his character.
- Stan promises that, although he wears a mask, his voice won’t sound anything like Bane.
- Anthony Mackie doesn't know if he's in Avengers 2. "If I'm in Avengers 2, everyone will know it 'cause I'm gonna run through Times Square butt ass naked with Avengers 2 tattooed across my chest," Mackie said laughing. "It's a huge honor to be a part of the group of people they've put together. Because Marvel - they don't go for great looking people who could be superheroes, they go for good actors who can make superheroes come to life. So, to be a part of Avengers would be really cool."
- The backstory between Winter Soldier and Black Widow is not expected to be explored in this film, but it is acknowledged.
- The Russos stressed how strong the initial script was and how supportive Marvel has been with making the movie they want to make.
- Joe Russo compared the cinematic version of Ed Brubaker’s Winter Soldier storyline to that of Star Wars, saying that seeing this level of emotional stakes of this hero’s journey is rare.
- The movie is set up on dual storylines early on that eventually intersect with Cap taking over.
- Action sequences in the movie, like car chases for example, are influenced by films like To Live and Die in L.A., and Ronin.
- There is a Three Days of the Condor Easter egg in the film, but it’s of the “pause your DVD and look” variety.
- There’s a “very big idea that they’re exploring in the third act of this movie. It’s a sort of monumental idea for the MCU [that] impacts everything.”
- There will also be a Brubaker Easter egg.
- Stan Lee will have a cameo in this film.
- Screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus wanted to write a conspiracy thriller and avoided having Cap struggle to understand modern conveniences.
- Black Widow was specifically chosen to partner up with Cap because she represents a gray morality and a modern era, along with being the right person to poke at his weak spots.
- 98% of the movies takes place in the present, with only 2% in flashbacks. They experimented with a heavy flashback structure in early tests.
- The movie is not intentionally designed to set things up for future Marvel sequels or to end on a cliffhanger.
- Frank Grillo’s Crossbones character is “learning to be Crossbones in a way” in this movie. There’s a possibility of him cross into the R-rated boundary (and beyond) “somewhere down the line.”
- Sharon Carter/Agent 13 (Emily VanCamp) is described as “another option for Captain America and for Steve Rogers to think about moving forward in his life.”
- The Winter Soldier is described as a “negative image of Steve [Rogers].”
- As Markus says, “This movie is going to punch you in the face.”
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier will pull from multiple comics over the years in which Cap fought against the changing status quo of what it means to be American.
- The film takes place after the events of Thor: The Dark World and Iron Man 3, but may not overtly callback to those films.
- Robert Redford wanted to do the film in part because his grandkids are fans of Marvel movies and he wanted them to see him in one.
- Marvel and Feige are on guard to avoid painting themselves into a corner storywise.
- As much as fans think Marvel is putting out misinformation campaigns, Feige denies it and says that fan rumors do enough of that on their own.
After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” finds Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with the Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy — the Winter Soldier. Starring Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Georges St-Pierre, Hayley Atwell, Toby Jones, Emily VanCamp and Maximiliano Hernández with Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Redford, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is directed by the team of Anthony & Joe Russo from a screenplay written by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely and is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1941. Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing the film. Executive producers on the project include Alan Fine, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo and Stan Lee. The creative production team on the film includes director of photography Trent Opaloch, production designer Peter Wenham, editors Jeffrey Ford, A.C.E. and Mary Jo Markey, A.C.E. and three time Oscar®-nominated costume designer Judianna Makovsky. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is set for release on April 4, 2014.