Captain America (the super strong alter ego of young Steve Rogers) first appeared in a Marvel comic in March of 1941, eight months before the US entered World War II.
The comic’s unforgettable first cover displayed the character with the American flag prominently displayed on his chest, punching Adolf Hitler in the face.
Marvel Studios president and Captain America: The First Avenger producer Kevin Feige observes: “When you have Captain America punching out Hitler in March 1941 – before Pearl Harbour – it’s definitely a statement which proclaimed, ‘We cannot sit by on the sidelines anymore’.”
In fact, this statement landed the comic character’s creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in hot water, but it also heralded the arrival of yet another character from the Marvel Universe that would still, 70 years on, prove extremely popular.
Despite the initial controversies, market response to the original comic was positive and immediate, and the book started selling out.
Over the decades Captain America remained in many ways relatively unchanged. In the film’s production notes, the 97-year-old Simon comments: “They’ve done a lot of things since I was working on the character. However, we’re still reminded who Captain America is and what he is. He is a symbol. He is an icon.” He is an icon that has sold over than 210 million copies in more than 70 countries. And now, as fans celebrate his 70th birthday, Marvel Studios releases the origin story of how Steve Rogers became the first Avenger, Captain America. The studio and director/executiveproducer Joe Johnston were firm in their decision to keep the story in the era in which it was conceived. Feige elaborates: “You can’t tell Captain America’s story without it taking place in that period. Is this the authentic World War II period that you see on the History Channel? Well, no... Plenty of war movies have been made and plenty of World War II movies have been made, but no one has ever made one quite like this.”
Johnston agrees: “You only really get one chance to do an origin story. The 1940s were such an energetic era, fuelled by theoptimistic belief that ‘right’ triumphs. Cinematically, it is such a toy box of vehicles, fashion and architecture – and we fill it with the Marvel gadgets and weaponry – it just seemed like a great opportunity to do this story first, and then move on.” Johnston has an impressive CV, having begun his career in special effects and honing his craft at the prestigious Industrial Light and Magic, where his first film was Star Wars (1977), before embarking on a career in directing which includes hits like Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989), The Rocketeer (1991) and Jurassic Park III (2001).
Feige recalls: “Whenever we had a conversation with Joe, it always came back to the fact hedidn’t want to lose sight of the character, didn’t want to lose sight of Steve. Yes, of course, there will be amazing design and a great look, but let’s make sure the audience goes along with him on this ride. He was the right guy to make the story feel contemporary, make it feel modern, relevant and cool for audiences.”
Captain America: The First Avenger has been greeted extremely positively by critics and audiences alike and a sequel is likely. Yet this will not happen before Captain America embarks on his next adventure as part of a rather heroic ensemble. In September 1963, Marvel Comics debuted The Avengers, a super group comprised of four of the universe’s most beloved characters: Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, (all created in the 1960s) and Captain America himself.
As the script for Captain America: The First Avenger began to take shape, the screenwriters ensured their story merged perfectly with the other three principal characters. Markus says, “We would check in with other projects or they would check in with us, because we wanted to ensure the connective tissue was there”. This paved the way to next May’s The Avengers.
Feige states: “It is my belief that we could not have created this notion of an interlinked Marvel cinematic universe without Captain America, because he is the start of the Marvel universe – not only in the history of our comics, but within the overall notion of enhanced humans. Whether that human has been bitten by a spider, exposed to gamma rays, or encased in a self-built metal suit, the notion of a super-powered human started with Steve Rogers, Captain America.”