Marvel’s doling out some nice preview pictures today from their upcoming super hero flicks! First it was the sultry Natalie Portman getting her due in a couple newly unveiled stills from May’s Thor. Now there’s a big batch of seven stills from July’s Captain America: The First Avenger starring Chris Evans as Marvel’s super-soldier.
Chris Evans? Didn’t he also star in a pair of Fantastic Four movies as the Human Torch alongside Michael Chiklis’ Thing, Ioan Gruffudd’s Mister Fantastic and the lovely-but-miscast Jessica Alba as the Invisible Woman? Isn’t there a rule against starring as two super heroes in the same universe? (Hey, don’t get me started on Ryan Reynolds starring as both Deadpool in Marvel’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine and DC’s Green Lantern! That’s just grabbing too much candy at the checkout counter, Mr. Reynolds!)
But then I got to thinking: In the already-legendary Fantastic Four #587, Marvel just killed the Human Torch! Deader than a doornail, burnt to a cinder, eaten by the army of Annihilus dead! So maybe it’s not fair to kick Chris Evans out of the Marvel party. After all, the new Avengers arc Marvel is putting together with Iron Man, Thor and Joss Whedon’s Avengers is a party just getting started!
So let’s take a look at what Marvel has to share with Chris Evans as Cap:
At the top of this post we have a pretty great full body shot that shows off Cap in his WWII-era battle fatigues. (You can click on any of the photos and it will open a larger image in a new window.) I see a few scratches on that shield, so it looks like Cap’s been banging a few Nazis around with it! It’s nice to see a gun holster on that utility belt of his because there’s some scrapes Cap’ll get in that even his shield won’t get him out of, and a Army-issued Browning M1911 would be just right for the Nazi-busting soldier!
There’s also another pic of Cap behind the stick of some sort of aircraft. It’s impressive to see how Chris Evans looks so unlike his more brash and juvenile Johnny Storm from the FF flicks!
Next up is Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Chester Phillips and a blonde that Marvel doesn’t name in their photo caption. But identifying beautiful blondes is what Starcasm is for! To Mr. Lee Jones’ left is Natalie Dormer, aka Private Lorraine. This character has no history that I’m aware of in the Marvel Universe, so the movie will have to tell her story!
Then we see Cap’s lady love, Peggy Carter, played by Hayley Atwell. Is there anything sexier than a rifle-wielding, Nazi-killing brunette in an Army-issue brown leather bomber jacket? No, there is not. Marvel knows this and they are giving us what we want in spades with Ms. Atwell. Thank you, Marvel!
Another pic reveals the set piece for the laboratory where Steve Rogers received the injection of super-soldier serum that turned him from patriotic 98-pound weakling into the strapping super hero named Captain America!
Hugo Weaving gets his due in a very intriguing still featuring his character Johann Schmidt, the villainous Nazi enforcer the Red Skull. He is clutching the infamous Cosmic Cube, a fearsome weapon that allows the Skull to warp reality in any way he chooses. Cap’ll have his work cut out wresting the Cosmic Cube from the clutches of the Red Skull!
The final picture features Chris Evans’ Captain America grabbing a man who appears to be Richard Armitage’s Heinz Kruger.
Marvel is going all in in 2011 with Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. Thor and Cap are just as wonderful characters as Tony Stark’s Iron Man, so if the quality of the writing and direction are up to that debut’s standards, it’ll be a smooth ride into the Avengers, where all these heroes (and Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury) will reunite!
For more on Cap’s WWII adventures, Marvel has reprinted the earliest Golden Age adventures in a series of hardcover Marvel Masterworks:
Photos: Marvel.com
