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7 New Images from THE DARK KNIGHT RISESShould Will Smith Play Captain America?
by John Rico Posted:January 6th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
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It‘s a rumor that’s been circulating within the back channels and undertows of the internet for a couple of years now. Discussed and endlessly debated on message boards, argued back and forth by comic book fans, it’s caused so much distress and excitement within fan circles that you’d think they were arguing about a film that had already been shot and released into theaters. And the rumor is this: That Captain America, Marvel’s iconoclastic leader of the Avengers whose due for his own film in 2011 by director Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park 3, The Rocketeer) is going to be played by none other than Will Smith.
In some circles, Smith is believed to have been at least offered the title role in The First Avenger: Captain America. If true, it’d be one of the most bold and daring casting decisions undertaken by Hollywood in recent years. And also, by the sound of the voluminous fits being thrown by fan-boys all across the country, one of the most contentious.
And with the film set to go into production this summer, we can expect casting announcements any day now. While I have no idea about the veracity of this rumor, of whether there’s even a hint of truth to it or an entirely fabricated suggestion which curiously gained traction within the echo chamber of the internet, I do have an opinion about the matter. And the opinion is this: Will Smith would make an incredibly awesome Captain America. To find out why, read on after the jump.
So far, Marvel has played it incredibly safe in the casting of their super-hero franchises:
Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man? Makes perfect sense. Tobey perfectly embodied the nebbish Peter Parker that we all grew up with in the comic books.
Robert Downing Jr. in Iron Man? Spot on casting to play the smug middle-aged billionaire.
Edward Norton in The Incredible Hulk? While there was a mixed response to the Hulk’s first cinematic outing in Ang Lee’s Hulk, the second time around they definitely got it right. Norton’s slim physique and mild-mannered persona offered the necessary and precise counter-balance to the raging muscle-bound Hulk.
But in his own way, Will Smith would also be a perfect casting decision. There are three reasons for this:
The first is that while die-hard comic fans have been having apocalyptic fits about the mere idea of making Captain America black, the larger movie going public isn’t as concerned about playing fast and loose with the source material. Especially when the source material is a comic book. Having the Fresh Prince on-board could serve as a box office insurance policy towards a super-hero that doesn’t have a lot of cosmetic flash. While the film is sure to be endowed with a healthy budget and plenty of explosions, at the end of the day Captain America just doesn’t have Iron Man’s suit, Spider-Man’s ability to web sling his way in-between Manhattan skyscrapers, the visually interesting mutations of the X-Men, or the ability to transform into an angry green goliath when his feelings get hurt. Is mainstream America really going to want to shell out money to see a super-hero whose origin involves only the drinking of a super-soldier serum and whose sole power is seemingly the ability to throw a shield?
All of which is to say that, both aesthetically and visually, Captain America is one of Marvel’s least interesting characters. And not to mention, most boring. Spiderman’s Peter Parker struggled with getting dates and paying the rent. Iron Man’s Tony Stark got to play a womanizing alcoholic. The X-Men had to hide out from a world that hated and feared them. And the Hulk’s Bruce Banner was a man perpetually on the run from both society and himself.
Meanwhile, Captain America’s alter ego Steve Rogers was never portrayed as much else than an over the top patriotic boy scout with an unwavering belief in, to borrow a phrase from another overt morally absolute do-gooder, “Truth, justice, and the American way.” All of which, unless you’re a raging Bush-era neo-conservative, may be a hard sell to a cynical public which has undergone a decade of war and one of the longest recessions in national history.
Having Will Smith play the shield wielding Avenger changes everything simply because Will Smith is one of those actors who exudes a seemingly inexhaustible supply of both charm and charisma. A potentially very necessary attribute to have when playing an otherwise personality deprived super-hero. And the exclamatory change in skin hue could help to alleviate the lack of super-power dazzle. (It should also be noted that X-Men and Spider-Man aside, at least within the Avengers staple, only Iron Man has been a box-office success with both Hulk films under-performing. Without a dynamic casting choice, Captain America would seem more likely to follow the route of the Hulk than of Iron Man in regards to ticket sales.)
The second reason is that Marvel has already experimented with an African-American Captain America. Truth: Red, White, and Black was a six-part mini-series by Robert Morales and Kyle Baker where they envisioned one of Marvel’s many alternate Universe world’s where Captain America was African-American.
The third reason Will Smith would make a great Captain America is that his skin color could provide the film with a certain political and cultural gravitas that would otherwise be missing from more traditional bleached casting. This would be a resonance made all the more powerful if Marvel had both the imagination and the courage to set the film in the 1940s when Captain America was first created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby to fight the Axis powers in the pages of comic books. Captain America’s origin story involves drinking an un-tested super-soldier serum , and with some slight variation, this could be transformed to reflect real-life periods in some of America’s darker corridors of history. Places like Tuskegee, Alabama where the government used African-Americans in medical experiments. Having Captain America both, fight Nazis overseas, while also being discriminated against on the home front could add considerable dimensionality to what would otherwise likely be a flat action film.
However, knowing that Marvel is trying to roll-out all of the film adaptations for the individual characters before the 2012 expected The Avengers, it’s probably safe to assume that like Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, The First Avenger: Captain America will also be set within this modern era.
On a final note, it’s important to remember, that there’s nothing about Captain America’s character that is dependent upon him being portrayed as white. Captain America’s always been less a flesh and blood character than a representative avatar of the American ideals of liberty, equality, and freedom. Seems to me that having Captain America be played by an African-American symbolizes those ideals quite nicely. In an era when we’ve seen our first African-American President, why not also have our first African-American Avenger?
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John Rico is the author of Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green and Border Crosser. You can follow him on Twitter at: Johnny_rico99. Agree or disagree with what he wrote or just want to leave a comment? Feel free to contact him at writejohnrico@aol.com
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Niggerlover?! Martin Lucifer Coon?! Did you come here in a time machine from 1950's Alabama? And people wonder why America is hated…
Who is Martin Lucifer Coo…. Oh, never mind!!!
Wow, that’s so hateful geez, I never thought America was that bad!!!
Captain Watermelon!!
No way for Will Smith as Captain America, we need a younger actor who’s white as Cap.
Captain Big Lips!
S-plosions on a huge set peice punctuated with one-liners………….
NO.
As to it being the “PC” choice, come one it is Hollywood they have full departments to sell this as a “brave new world.”
This article was EXTREMELY well written! Kudos to you for mentioning the under-looked Red, White, and Black. Although I am hesitant on Will as Steve/Cap your article made me see this idea in a new light. The sign of any good writer. Great job! This is why I love this site!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! agreed
Captain N*gger!!
The first african avenger is Black Panther, why not a real african hero instead of subverting an iconic character fo sake of political correctness?
Politically correct in this case would be a deal breaker for many people and it just wouldn't work. It would be another example of Hollywood screwing up a good story to try and expand their viewership base. Stupid. Point in case: The Wild, wild waste.
Color is not a big issue. But Smith is not a good cast for the role. I suppose any charismatic actor can be twisted to fit any role for box office sake but this is a poor choice. Yes, Zac Efron may play Forest Gump. Yes, Sam Jackson can play Norman Bates in Psycho. Yes, Jet Li may play the Green Lantern. But just because they can does not mean they should. Hell, Will Smith can play the Joker from Batman. He can play anything you want, he is an actor. But this is just wrong. Cap America is a role that demands a more subtle performance. It needs quite characterization beneath the powerful persona of a symbolic figure. Of all marvel properties Cap America perhaps has the most complex and relevant story. Through him we see the growth and changes of America itself between WW2 and present. And if allowed, we can see the death of “truth, justice and the American Way” through his eyes and perhaps a rebirth. Will Smith does not fit this role. His Will Smithness is too much. And when people see Smith on screen, there is too much of him and less of the character.
The best I can do here is give Rico the benefit of the doubt that trying to be sensationalistic was his sole intent. It’s appallingly clear that the man has no idea about Captain America. If he’s read any of the source material I can only guess he’s chosen some of the worst.
As he’s apparently done essentially no research, and so has created some straw man version of Captain America/Steve Rogers, the piece is a sham.
typical liberal bullshit. john rico is the epitome of hollywood hypocrisy. he wants everyone to be “open-minded” about race and he wants to force feed that notion down our throats, but given the chance, he’d just hire another white guy to direct and star and get the girl in his movies. you want the rest of america to be “as open-minded” as you, john? try getting your hollywood buddies to actually change their bullshit “white only” mentality first, douche bag.
I agree, for this movie to make money and draw people it needs star power of someone like Smith to bring them in at least. And with a somewhat good story and action word of mouth will hopefully bring it to scale of like iron man. I mean they have Samuel Jackson playing Nick fury so people who might complain should think about how skin color doesn’t matter as long as the person can play the part. Also, It might also appeal that since we have a African american president now that having smith play captain america is almost like a representation of whats happening now in the world.
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!! Wild Wild West was an ABOMINATION of the original and race WAS a part of it. STOP THE PC CRAP!!!!! Would you make a “Shaft” movie with a white guy? Leave the character alone-or else I (and MILLIONS more) will not go to it.
Captain American should be cast as a white man. I have no problem with it. But as a Afican American I would like to make one comment about sci-fi. I’m 53 years old and have read hundreds if not several thousand pieces of sci fi literature and almost with out exception when the future is pictured or written about 95 to 99% of the characters are white. Why is that ? Considering that the earth is made up with a larger percentage of people of color and growing .Can’t writers picture a future where other races, even if they are Asian, Hispanic, Indian, or Middile Eastern particapate ? Or is it generally just about making dollars ?
Actually, Captain America is an extremely interesting character. He has quite a rich, layered history; and far from being a ‘boy scout’, Captain America has had many run ins and showdowns with the US Government (his famous statement: I swear allegiance to no government, only to the American Dream). In fact, he just recently lead the superhero rebellion against the government (and Tony Stark) in the Civil War saga. As for ‘only being able to throw a shield’, he’s the leader of the Avengers! The dude is a strategist of the highest order and frequently called the best hand to hand fighter in the Marvel universe. And I echo another posters comments, it’s known to be a WW2 period piece and, disgusting as it is, blacks were segregated at that time…
Thanks Pete, you clearly realized (as I did) that the way this gu is talking about Cap shows me that he knows nothing about the character or its place within pop culture history.
Let’s not forget that Nick Fury is currently Black. He was white up until very recently (as I understand it, at least), and his Black version image was even fashioned after Sam L. Jackson. This is a clear example of Marvel allowing skin color to change for a film, then doing some pseudo-retconning with the comics. If they could do it with Fury, why can’t they do it with Captain America?
I agree with all points made in this article. Will Smith is the man, and who else has played savior of America (or the world, universe, etc) with anywhere near as much charisma and box-office return as Smith (Men in Black, Independence Day, Hancock, etc, etc, etc)? He’s perfect for the part, and I hope they do end up casting him! Sorry, purists, but Marvel has never stuck absolutely 100% to the source material, as evidenced by every adaptation (Spider-Man no longer uses web cartridges to sling webs; they are part of his body, for one example). Why is skin color any different? It’s not. It’s a minor detail, as minor as Spider-Man’s cartridges or updating time periods of origin stories.
The Nick Fury used in the films is from the Ultimates Universe, which is an update of the original MU. The Ultimate Nick Fury was a ‘Nam vet and not a WWII vet.
The Anvengers movies seem to be taking their inspiration from, so the black Nick Fury works, however in the Ultimate Universe, Steve Rogers is still white. If you want to black Captain America, hold out for a sequel and deal with Isaiah Bradley.
Even if the movies was about Isaiah Bradley, I’d still not want Will Smith playing the role. He’s too big of a star and as already pointed out, Will Smith tends to play Will Smith. I love many of his movies, but he’s just not right for Cap – white or black.
I haven’t really read all that many compelling arguments AGAINST having an African-American actor play Captain America, Will Smith or otherwise. They seem to be boiling down to unqualifying comments of “well you just don’t understand the comics.” The only valid points I’m hearing are historical, and that’s of the unfortunate reality of how African-Americans wouldn’t be made military leaders in the 40s.
That being said, I remember early news about they wanting to group Captain America with more international teammates for the film, so that gives some leeway there about varying ethnicity being more acceptable. It’s also been mentioned about the possibility of having him wear a mask covering his full face which COULD work. Points already made about the underlying tensions of the era and somehow discovering Cap isn’t white could play well. Cinematically, I think the jadedness of the loss of the American Dream would be more compelling coming from an African-American perspective than a necessarily caucasian one once Cap arrives in the 21st century. It’s still possible with a white Cap, for sure, but there’s more gravity when it’s coming from a historically oppressed minority.
With Will Smith himself, I think the baggage remains that he’s “Will Smith.” I think he could play toned-down and not be over the top, but he still has the fan base that sees him more as a caricature of “Will Smith” than anything else. A subdued and sober performance is doable and I think it could work with him, but the tensions of fans expecting a certain performance and non-fans fearing the same kind of performance wouldn’t go away.
Marvel Studios has already shown a willingness to take risks with their actors, and casting Will Smith would definitely be one of them on multiple levels. However, it could work.
It’s not so much about keeping him white, it’s about the time period the movie is set in. As much as we hate it now, back in the 40′s the government wasn’t about to make a black man Captain America. That’s when the film is set. If it was set today, totally down with a make over. But, it’s not. Beyond that, Will Smith is too much of a cocky wise ass to play the gravitas of the character…
wow, you really didnt reseach this piece did you? all of the examples you gave are false and not properly researched. E.G. “Marvel’s many alternate Universe world’s where Captain America was African-American” = wrong (read it) “Captain America’s alter ego Steve Rogers was never portrayed as much else than an over the top patriotic boy scout with an unwavering belief in, to borrow a phrase from another overt morally absolute do-gooder” = Wrong (reaserch it)”The First Avenger: Captain America will also be set within this modern era” = Wrong (its was released months ago it will be a period peice)
and making will smith cap because of his wit and charsma, also his bankability? by that logic we could have brad pitt or any other A-list celeb.
sorry man but do some reseach to find the real answers. you could even wiki it and get better ones. all of this is opinion based on false statments presented as fact.
i hope you dont get paid for this
The problem isn’t with his race. The problem is that his name is too big. If he was Captain America, we wouldn’t be watching a Marvel movie. We’d be watching a Will Smith movie.
This guy has no idea what he is talking about! This movie HAS to be set during WWII to explain the backstory. Anything else will be a screw up of Wolverine proportions. The logical conclusion of the movie (just like in the time jump of the movie) is Cap falling into the ocean and presumed dead. Really encased in a block of ice and revived in modern times to join the Avengers.
Love Will Smith movies…except when he plays characters made for a honky. Anyone remember the Wild, Wild West?…and def not as Cap. He could be Cap’s sidekick The Falcon though.
Just a quick correction. We already have our first black Avenger. Nick Fury is being played by Samuel L. Jackson. Just throwing that out there
Uh, no it didn’t work. Wild, Wild West was garbage.
Ps. And all of you can forget this corny business about the mask covering his whole face, no matter who they cast they’re not gonna keep his chiseled mug hidden from the audience for an entire movie…
This is like saying that nelson mandela could be played by brad pitt. I understand that more roles are going to actors with african decent, but what`s next a black lesbian Hitler?
Make him black, that’s fine. But Will Smith plays Will Smith, and he’s one of the most well-known actors in the world, so looking at the screen, you’ll see Will Smith, not Steve Rogers. Unknowns or semi-unknown actors work way better for these types of roles, it’s been proven again and again.
An interesting, and controversial way to bring this plotline from Red, White and Black into the movie is have the origin scene with a black kid, taking the Supersoldier formula, and cutting to the regular Cap on a mission, like the beginning of Ultimates. Then, you reference the previous origin, the first Supersoldier formula didn’t take, they tested it on African Americans, there were side effects/deaths, Cap feels conflict over this knowledge, but there is still the mission at hand, etc.
I don’t know, just a thought. Not against that angle using a Black guy as Cap throughout, just not Will Smith.
Actually the enitre film is supposed to take lace in the 40s. Thats why Joe johnston was given the job, because of his work on the Rocketeer. At the end of the film Captain America get frozen and is supposed to wake up in the modern day for the Avenger film. Get it right moron.
Captain America as popular as Spidey or Wolverine? never. Certainly not overseas.
It's believable that they would make a black man Captain America because the super solider project was ultimately an experimental procedure the same way the Tuskeegee syphilis study was an experiment conducted on African-Americans. Not too far fetched by any means. Not to mention, in the Marvel canon, they did experiment on the “first captain america.”
Point is, casting Will Smith as Captain America would make the character socially and culturally relevant again in addition to the fact that having Will Smith as Captain AMERICA would be one great way to sell this movie overseas.
First of all i would just like to say this: Stop with the “African American” crap. If you were born in America then guess what…you are American. I am not “Euro-American”, just American. If we want to be one nation, no matter where we come from, why must we always label ourselves? /rant offHere is the reality, whether or not the cast Will Smith as the Cap’t, Sony (or whoever has the final decision) is going to cast who they want. My humble opinion is that unlike most of the other comic book characters, Captain America represents an ideal, and it isn’t defined by who he is. Sounds corny I know, but that’s what it is. If Smith can come in and do a good of job as RDJ did, the no one will care if the Captain is white or black.
Marvel actually did make a black Captain America some time in the 90's I think which any comic fan should know the 90% of the 90's was filled with shit and if you have a bunch of them they're most likely worth LESS than COVER PRICE.
So it may sell the movie over seas but it will not sell the movie to their main audience which is comic fans. Old and new alike wouldn't want to go watch Will fucking Smith play Captain America. Will Smith has even stated he doesn't think it is likely that he would even be considered for the role as well as denying casting rumors that he is Captain America.
I see your point with hem experimenting on a black person but my idea of far fetched is they would rather kill the black than to give him a super serum let alone make him a super soldier. So you can keep paying for Will Smith to be Captain America I will pray for someone else more…white. More fitting for the roll and I honestly think Chris Pine would make a good Captain America.
A certain editorial writer should really read Ed Brubaker’s recent take on Cap before claiming him to be the most boring character…. not going to name names here but do yourself the favor and pick up the Winter Soldier TPB
I guess Will Smith isn’t American. He’s AFRICAN American. Meanwhile, YOU, whose parents immigrated from Italy or Germany or wherever, get to be just AMERICAN.
Many ppl here who probably dont identify as racist, are carrying around this racist notion and its hilarious to watch this issue bring it to the surface.
There’s nothing in the concept of Captain America that makes it mandatory that he’s white. Let them cast Will Smith so I can laugh while all you closeted-racist geeks seeth. The movie will probably suck anyway- Marvel is running out of characters that are easy to make believable, like the monster and the robot suit guy..
What about Cate Blanchett or an African-Amercian boy playing Bob Dillon?
THAT'S WHY YOU DESERVE YOUR FACE SLASHED WITH A PAIR OF BOX CUTTERS. YOU RACIST LOSER WHITE TRAILER TRASH. PUT A BULLET THROUGH YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU AINT LOOKING WHITEY.
stfu you race baiting haitian idiot
This is a clear misunderstanding of racism, people like this are quite retarded. See I stated earlier that Will Smith, Laurence Fishburne, Morgan Freeman AND Samuel L. Jackson are ALL some of my favorite actors, and I do believe they are all black unless I was mistaken.
I actually supported America's current President which is our Nations FIRST BLACK President.
Stupid kids think because you want something to stay true to a comic that you must be a white racist. If I am racist I am racist against my own race. Thanks for your amusing e rage over a comment of me not wanting a black man to play a white hero.
Sad to see that some people of my race are just as racist. Really contradictory. I think your points are all valid and should be seriously considered. Me as a black person think this has nothing to do with colour. Captain America should remain that same colour as the one in the comic. This is about respecting a great American comic character. I don’t thing the creators of Captain America were thinking about colour when they chose him to be caucasian. They were thinking of commonsense and what character would fit the role of their superhero. This is what the film should do, it is clear that the comic originates from an era and/or is also based on an era where that specific figure of Cap’n America was in congruence with the national ideology of the time. A black Cap’n America would make a huge contradiction and the story would lose its meaning.
However, if they really desperately want a black Cap’n America, they need to do it right. There actually exists a black Cap’n America, a predecessor of the current one. If they want a black Captain America, they should first make sure they use that story rather than take the current captain America and turn him white. Look up on google Black Captain America, it’s actually got a good, interesting storyline as well.
The film industries when they decide to take comic or cartoon adaptations for their movies they need to stop trying to mush up things like race and stick with what the original material shows. I mean look at dragonball and the last airbender.
Why don’t they just stay true to the sources and watch the story come to life!!! It becomes so annoying, “This film has a white guy, but we want to make it our own so we’ll make him black, ooh this one has an Asian, but its a fantasy and it didn’t specify that their Asian, besides the makers of the show are American, lets make them Caucasian and say we want to make the film more diverse, we’ll just scrap all the calligraphy and other obvious stuff.”
Makes me sick!!! Why do they have to change characters, If they did that to my comic I would sue them!!! LOL.
The bottom line is if the character is Caucasian, make him Caucasian. They shouldn’t even try to change such aspects in an adaptation. The original creators made it like that for a specific reason, unnecessarily change things like that, then the movie will lose its meaning.
At least someone agrees with me, funny that its a black person after being called racist for a month. I almost ignored my notification thinking it was another racist comment but you agreed with me so I read your whole post.
I agree with you, Dragonball Evolution was horrible and they had bad actors, Last Airbender looks somewhat accurate but not enough to make me super excited about it. I just hope they don’t run off and ruin Bleach next because of it being a popular Anime/Manga.
But I mean I think Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury works well, for one he was based off the Ultimate Nick Fury who is black, who is in turn based off Samuel L. Jackson, that worked out amazingly well if you ask me.
And yeah I know there’s a black Captain America, I think it was done in the 90′s where most comics began to decline and it kind of went under the radar. But I always feel a character should be the same color in a movie as he is in a cartoon/anime/comic.
If they had chose to make Michael Clarke Duncan (the big black guy from The Green Mile :3) Batman I do not think it would have worked well. I also don’t think an asian could be Nick Fury (I was going to say Bale but fuck they have a white version of him so invalid).
But thank you sir for your comment and your respect and understanding.
You say you're not being racist, but Captaon Africa America for a black man playing Cap is a little racist. That's pretty much saying Black people aren't as American as white people.
If a black man playing Cap in your mind is called Captain Africa America then a white guy playing Cap should be salled Captain Europe, seeing as that is where most white people came from.
I think the WW2 argument is genuine but I don't like the Captain Africa America comment.
“All of which is to say that, both aesthetically and visually, Captain America is one of Marvel’s least interesting characters.”
Are you kidding me? You even said it yourself, he stands for America. His death in the comics was even reported on the news. I don’t know about you, but to me it seems that the news find Cap a lot more interesting that you think.
I think what would also be interesting is that Captain America is essential a man from a lost time. In the Avengers movies or possible sequel. Captain America would have to adjust to the current times. I think it would really send the point home how the world has changed since the 50′s. I still don’t think Cap should be cast by a white actor also I am interested to see how they would protray cap once he found out about 9/11.
I would like to point out to you that Truth Red, White, and Black is part of the history of the Captain America not an alternate universe. Will Smith is a great actor and could really pull of the leadership of Cap. Captain America is not a neo con or a dem, he is the American ideal. He stands for all men being created equal and all of the ideals of what America should be. Captain America fights for those who can’t fight for themselves. That’s why he must remain a blond haired blue eyed 1930′s Brooklyn boy. Physically he is everything the Nazi’s praise, yet he fights them because there wrong. If Captain America is black than it becomes about race and not about the man who believes in his countries potential to reach its on high standard. He is not fighting for his cause he is fighting for the just cause. I’m a long time comic fan and a proud black man and I telling you Cap must be white so that we don’t see race, we see a solider fighting for whats right.
Well said.
“Bush-era neo-conservative”
Wow, what a stupid comment. I love movie news/gossip and have frequented this site for awhile; but your idiotic liberal interjections are getting increasingly ridiculous and numerous. I’ll get my movie news elsewhere from now on.
While i can understand why attracting a star like Will Smith would be a real coup financially, i think if the direction of the film is directed towards an african american character, i actually think Anthony Mackie would be a better choice.
Will Smith can shine Captain America's boots any day!
Ironic how all these people want Captain America to be blonde, white, and blue-eyed. Pretty sure he was supposed to be fighting the Nazis, not be a poster boy for Aryan supremacy.
I would be all for Will Smith being Captain America were in not for the fact that this movie does take place in WWII. Having him as the character would just take the audience out of the historical context. They are after all making The First Avenger, not Inglourious Basterds.
Also, I do not see the problem with casting big-named movie stars.
‘Ironic how all these people want Captain America to be blonde, white, and blue-eyed. Pretty sure he was supposed to be fighting the Nazis, not be a poster boy for Aryan supremacy.’
That was sort of the point.
True that. In the story, was that really the reasoning behind why they picked him though?
I don’t think it was part of the story, but I’m willing to argue that the Joe Simon and Jack Kirby had it in mind when they created him.
Will Smith was good battling aliens in ID4 and Men in Black while using sarcastic humor and four letter words but he will not make a good Captain America. It would also be re-writing American history because the military was segregated and it didn’t change until 1948 when President Harry S. Truman issued executive order 9981. And I even read somewhere that it took about 10 years to fully be implemented.
Comic fans and the general public despise it when Hollywood gets politically correct and makes significant departures from fictional characters origin, personality, and ethnic background. That’s why Fox is rebooting Fantastic Four and Daredevil. That’s why I didn’t like GI Joe.
Captain America needs to be a caucasian male and also be in the 20 – 30 age range in order to be eligible for the military. Please Hollywood, get it right. We fans of Captain America have waited far too long to see our favorite character on the big screen. Don’t screw it up.
I am not trying to sound racist but in all honesty I don't give a shit what someone calls me, I always have heard most black people referred to as African American, Black, colored or a slew of racist comments and African American seems to be the most polite suddenly. So forgive me for trying to not seem racist when making a valid point about racism in America int he 1940's.
I want all comic heroes to be played as their own skin color in the comics, Storm (X-Men) should not be played by Jennifer Aniston, Black Panther should not be played by Sylvester Stalone, I stand by this no matter the skin color I want it to stay in it's context.
You seem not to know the character particularly well sir.
Part of the reason for the blonde hair and blue eyes was that he was, in essence, the ‘Ubermensch’ – The Nazi’s idea of the ultimate man – To take that away removes an important story element, if not actually a rather important character point.
Further to this there is the historical innacuracy, already pointed out by a number of posters. In a period where regiments were segrogated throughout the army, and it was considered undesireable for black officers to command white enlisted men, it would make no sense for the character, who commands troops in the field, to be black.
The other major flaw in your argument is that Captain America/Steve Rogers is a bland, one-note character. He simply is not.
During the World War Two time period he is an idealist who is unfit for service, and gives up everything for the possibility to serve his country. Even still he is only one man, and can only do so much. The idea of him reading through casualty lists, and, despite his incredible skill set, still being incapable of doing much to reduce them is potentially fascinating.
In the post-war period Rogers is a man out of time. Having sacrificed everything to preserve his way of life, he has returned to find a world changed, almost beyond all recognition. The recent ‘Ultimates’ comics dealt with this beautifully, and could easily translate onto the screen.
One of the really interesting arcs that the film could offer the character would reflect the ‘Civil War’ series of comics. Roger’s ideals are anachronistic. He idealises freedom, while the society in which he has found himself is obsessed with security. He is a product of hope, in a world increasingly governed by fear. In the comics this has caused him to turn against his government on a number of occasions. Again, this is potentially a fascinating posibility for the film.
Ultimately the success of the film, like Iron Man and Hulk beofore it, is dependent on the audience sympathising with the character. By making him a walking flag, or for that matter, casting an actor who the casual viewer knows far too well, the character would be lost. For all of these reasons casting Smith would be an unmitigated disaster.
I agree with everything you say in this post, if they really want a black CA, it shouldn’t be Will Smith, but on the whole they should just keep the character as in the comics otherwise changing the ethnicity of the character will make the character himself lose a whole lot of meaning.
No he shouldn’t. Captain America has to be blond haired, blue eyed and over 6 ft. tall. When Hollywood deviates from the original comic book story, they fail and the movie flops.
Will Smith has already played a superhero in the movie Hancock. I thought there was going to be a sequel to that. I just don’t think it would work with him in two films of the same genre. Kind of like having Toby Maguire play Spiderman as well as Superman. Fans wouldn’t accept it. That’s my only problem with it.
Good point that is as highly logical as it isnt racist like some of the other posts here.
Nice one (thumbs up!!)