io9 have released some interesting details which were revealed at a recent chat with the filmmakers behind
Captain America: The First Avenger, including writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, director Joe Johnston, and producers Kevin Feige and Louis D'esposito. What follows are a few excerpts from their report regarding the role of the Nazis and Adolf Hitler in the movie, but to read more (including a few new details on Cap's transition into
The Avengers) head on over to the site by clicking on the link below.
The creative team emphasized that they didn't push the Nazis to one side because they were afraid of using them - as Joe Johnston put it, they're a universal villain and can be killed with impunity, so they didn't leave them out for fear of somehow offending people. And, indeed, they pointed out that there are still plenty of Nazis in the movie, they just aren't the primary antagonists for Cap. That said, Feige acknowledged that Cap very much does fight Nazis as well as supervillains in the original comics, and he alluded to the iconic cover of Captain America #1, in which Steve Rogers punches out Hitler. The problem, he explained, is that it's very difficult to come up with any logical scenario that could get Cap to that moment.
Instead, he said that they decided to just tip their hats to that cover by incorporating that imagery into the USO show in which Cap is forced to participate. And "forced" is the right word - Joe Johnston said it's his favorite sequence of the movie, but they made sure Steve seemed out of place and uncomfortable amid this silliness. As a bonus, Feige explained that the USO show actually inspires the creation of the in-universe version of Marvel Comics, which is an homage to the comic book universe's longstanding contention that Marvel Comics exists as a not always accurate chronicle of the superheroes' various adventures.
STARRING:
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
Sebastian Stan as Bucky
Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter
Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull
Toby Jones as Arnim Zola
Stanley Tucci as Abraham Erskine
Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Chester Phillips
Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark
Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan
JJ Field as Union Jack
Derek Luke as Gabe Jones
Kenneth Choi as Jim Morita
RELEASE DATE: July 22nd, 2011. (US) July 29th, 2011. (UK)