Most of us comic book fans couldn’t care less about what the CW, a Warner Bros. company, has to say about Marvel’s most anticipated comic book film. But that is only if we disregard the fans’ most popular choice of actors to play the good Captain, who is actually the CW’s golden boy; Jensen Ackles (Supernatural).
On the 25th of March, The CW aired the 15th episode of the 5th season of Supernatural(Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid) which was filled to the brim with Captain America Easter eggs, and all of them pointing to Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles). These hints went from subtle to alarming in a variety of scenes featuring Jensen. Some of these scenes displayed American flags as well as a picture of Mount Rushmore seen behind Jensen. The carved initials “C.A” on a Bronco appeared right next to Jensen’s head. A scene even featured Jensen eating a whole slew of “American” apple pie with him having an ear to ear grin! And last but not least, Jensen is seen entering a closet and opening the light to show a motorcycle helmet painted in good ol’ read, white and blue fashion! Kinda like the old live action Captain America, saving the day on his iron steed with his plastic see-through shield, wouldn’t you say?
Now I know most of you are slapping your legs, clinching your bladders while gasping for air between laughs, all in the name of hysteria, but after your abdominal pains make you stop laughing and your tears dry away, you might notice that it’s not as funny if we add up all the news we’ve had since we heard they were looking at contenders for the role. Granted a lot of them were rumours and fan casts but certain statements add up pretty nicely with these Easter eggs. On the 7th of February 2010, CHUD.com reported that at a Wolfman press conference “Joe Johnston had said that his Captain America would be played by a newcomer and that he would be surrounded by name actors”. On the 8th of February 2010, BigShinyRobot.com reported that Jensen Ackles was part of the top three choices for the role of Captain America. One of those three choices was actually seen at the premier of Johnston’s Wolfman, so I’m thinking that those choices were legit. On the 24th of February 2010, Deadline.com reported that the chosen actor for Cap would be signing a nine picture deal with Marvel. The only time we ever heard that Jensen was out of the running, was on casting rumour articles about John Krazinsky saying that Jensen had schedule conflicts preventing him from being cast. There were no official statements from Marvel, The CW OR Jensen himself confirming those conflicts and the last word we ever got from a Marvel spokesperson was on the 26th of February as IGN.com reported that “no one has been cast as Cap yet”. This must mean that Jensen is either still in the running or is actually cast as Cap until officially confirmed otherwise.
On the 25th of March 2010, a fellow CBMer that goes by the name of WalkingPhoenix wrote an editorial about everyone “jumping the gun” about the news of Chris Evans landing the role of Cap. His point was that Marvel or Evans did not officially confirm the news yet. All that we have had are twitter messages from Jon Favreau and Stan Lee welcoming the new Captain but not specifically using Evans’ name as a reference. And the only news on Evans’ part was an article posted on PWSpoilers.com saying that he was seen in a Hollywood hotspot celebrating his big Captain America “get”. There were still no comments from his part to confirm. On March 22nd 2010, The Hollywood Reporter stated that Chris Evans had accepted the role but had no information on the details of his contract. And then on March 24th 2010, MoviesOnline.ca reported that Evans had signed only a 3 picture deal with an “appearance” in The Avengers. It’s not quite the same deal as what had been reported offered by Marvel. And it’s also been a long while since we have had any Hawkeye news regarding Jeremy Renner. He seemed eager to relay information in the last articles about the role so it’s also a possibility that he is no longer considered for Clint Barton. And since Evans and Marvel have already been in “cahoots” in the past, also judging by Evans’ always present sense of humour, I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest that they are trying to fool everybody in regards to Captain America’s casting. Evans would be a decent Cap but in my opinion, he’d be a way better Hawkeye. Could it be that all this time, Chris Evans is actually Hawkeye and that Jensen Ackles is actually Captain America?
So what do you all think? Is this an April Fools joke by the CW, an April Fools joke by Marvel or an April Fools joke by me? Confirm or debunk below ;)
“Thanks” go to Xavier Frost of the band “ForeverFrost” for bringing these Easter eggs to my attention, as well as to BmanHall, Telavision and InstigatorGirl for information and confirmations. Sorry, there are no screen shots accompanying this article.