Greatest casting ever of a comic character?

[samurainoir]

I think that's what made Chris Evans so oddly refreshing in this day and age. When EVERY hero has to be "flawed" somehow and played as a jerk in order to go on some kind of redemptive journey or just create interesting conflicts, Cap's was physical because the man inside didn't need to change. It's also why he plays so well in the Avengers in stark contrast to bluster, and sarcasm, and arrogance, and anger. Idealism for the win.

I know it's too early to call it but surrounding him with "Edgy" modern Black Ops characters like Black Widow, Fury, Falcon and Winter Soldier is a terrific choice. Notice EVERY ONE of those contemporary heroes wears black in the trailers? Red White and Blue really stands out (and this is a Canadian who's saying this... we usually roll our eyes at jingoism).

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Yes, yes, and yes.

It's similar to how Chris Reeve portrayed the completely sincere Superman and Clark Kent against the post-modern, cynical folk of Metropolis in the first film.

Chris

[Hedji]

^^ Thirded.. Wow, it's refreshing to hear your opinions matching my own. I loved Evans and the writing of his character. I am a little fearful that with Winter Soldier being a modern conspiracy style thriller, that the writers may challenge Cap's moral compass and steadfast love of country. Conflict is good, but most of the time, I just need my heroes to be heroes.

[samurainoir]

I remember many of us here were really apprehensive about Evans being cast as Cap because we couldn't get past his performance as Johnny Storm in FF. It's to his credit as a performer that he's got the range to do both. I think he was great in FF as well.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^He was the best part of those films.

Chris

[enyawd72]

You guys have me wanting to go back and rewatch Cap now!

I think you're all right btw...Evans was fantastic as Steve Rogers. I may have to reconsider my top pick.

[Brazoo]

The weird thing is that I thought Evans and the writing of his character pulled off the really hard part. The easy part should have been throwing in some fun action scenes! When they showed his rise to glory in montage sequences made no sense to me whatsoever - who doesn't love big WWII action scenes?!

[Brazoo]

I had absolutely no faith that Chris Evans could pull of the idealisitc Steve Rogers...but he did in spades. He is my favorite apsect of all the Marvel films. RDJ gets all the credit, but it's easier to play the arrogant hot dog than the quiet, morally-focused hero.

Chris

I loved that side of it! They didn't cheapen it. I also thought it was very clever in "The Avengers" how other characters reacted to him too - like Clark Gregg's Agent character's schoolboy admiration for him. It's a little trick movies forget - if the other characters are amazed by the hero it can really work for the audience!

[Hedji]

And how the rest of the team deferred to him to give orders and battle strategy in New York. Great that they acknowledge all his wartime experience.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Cap owns everyone in that movie. As he should. He is Marvel's Superman. The moral compass of their universe.

Chris

[madmarva]

Going in, I figured Evans would pale in comparison to Downey Jr.'s star wattage, but the scenes where they went toe to toe verbally were among the best in the film.

Marvel has made excellent casting choices and their scripts have done a solid job nailing the core of their characters.

[samurainoir]

In terms of Downey Jr's take on the character, I really do see a great deal of influence from Warren Ellis' run on Iron Man in 2006, just as they were doing preproduction on the first movie. Many of Ellis' characters have that "smartest man in the room" arrogance to them. I don't think we had seen it to that extent in Stark up until that point in the comics.

I don't think it's any coincidence that Adi Granov, the artist on Ellis' run is also the main designer of the movie armour, and that they adapted their Extremis storyline.

[samurainoir]

And here is also huge credit to Marvel's long term cinematic universe planning... casting Sebastian Stan as Bucky. Planting the arc of their friendship in that first film, and making him a grown man Steve's age rather than a kid sidekick. Knowing that he was going to be the Winter Soldier in the second film.

I'm thinking that Avengers 3 and the films leading up to it, will be the Civil War storyline. Cap vs Iron Man is a wonderful ideological battleground between two charismatic characters. (which they already seem to be setting up)

Rather than having to reboot... you've got Bucky/Winter Soldier already in play to take the mantle in Captain America 4.

I think it's obvious I'm a big fan of Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-DEATH-OF-CAPTAIN-AMERICA-ULTIMATE-COLLECTION-Trade-Paperback-Marvel-Comics-/350706450079?pt=US_Comics_Graphic_Novels&hash=item51a7bbbe9f

[PNGwynne]

It's so refreshing to see such insightful praise here for Evans' Cap--for me that film was nearly perfect & unapologetic--much like Reeve's Superman which I also like very much.

I think that praise for Dafoe's Goblin is also deserved (though I hated the suit, too--should've been saved for Scorpion).

As a comic brought to life, I'm sure most of you know how I regard Burgess Meredith's Penguin. Perfection--a skillful actor breathing life into an admittedly 2-D character.

Who mentioned Rocketeer? Yes! Good eye.

No love for Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman, season 1? She really is wonderful, the best hero ever done for TV IMO.

[Falstaff13]

Maria Bamford as Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman in a musical theatre production of The Fantastic Four.

You can just see Kirby's drawings come alive as she eats butter and twitches.

Can you share more about this musical theatre production?