Marvel reveals the new Captain America

Marvel just keeps rolling the punches right in.

Just a few days after announcing a new female Thor for Marvel comics, Marvel's Chief Creative Officer, Joe Quesada, revealed who will be the new Captain America on the Colbert Report last night. You might recognize the name Sam Wilson as he also goes by Falcon. Well, Falcon will now wear Cap's suit as Steve Rogers' super soldier serum has worn off and he rapidly aged 65-years.
Wilson is a longtime friend and partner of Rogers so it makes sense for him to take over the duties as Captain America. The takeover will take place this October in the "All-New Captain America" series.

Similar to what has been said about the upcoming female Thor, this might serve as some foreshadowing for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well. That doesn't necessarily mean that Anthony Mackie will be replacing Chris Evans as Cap, but it might be a hint that Evans will be walking away from the MCU. He has already hinted that he would not like to renew his contract which led people to think that The Winter Soldier arc will be moving forward and that Sebastian Stan will take over the Captain America role. This new comic arc might put a wrinkle in things, so it's definitely something to pay attention to. 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Review

Still attempting to adapt to the new world, Capt. Steve Rogers is confronted with the challenges of freedom, safety, and trust regarding his employers, peers, and a Soviet engineered assassin in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.


I have been excited for this one for quite sometime and without beating around the bush, it didn't disappoint. It avoided the drag that The First Avenger ran into and engaged the audience thoroughly. Move over Avengers because Captain America now has the best Marvel movie to date.
What I loved most about this movie is the intensity was brought to another level and it was a pretty thrilling movie in terms of the plot. It was political and challenged the viewer in terms of not really knowing who the enemy was. All the way up to the end you have a lot of questions and you don't really know who's side is right and I loved that a lot.
The casting was spot on and the continuing characters, minus Scarlett Johansson, were even better in this movie. I exclude her because truth be told, Black Widow was a lot easier to watch in previous Marvel flicks. She felt forced and boring to me in this one. Robert Redford was a powerhouse, Sebastian Stan was great, and Anthony Mackie was a very pleasant surprise. Falcon was well executed as was The Winter Soldier.
As far as the plot goes, I think this was the most well executed aspect of the film. Like I said, it was interesting and engaging and it really kept your attention. Captain America is faced with the question of whether S.H.I.E.L.D. was really in the best interest of freedom, and himself, or not. To see your main character question his place in the world is one thing, but to see him question his trust in his own country and its leaders was a whole other emotion.
I also liked how we got to see Steve's full, super soldier potential in this one. He was jumping, running, and punching his way through just about everything. His abilities were definitely more inclusive and apparent in this movie over The First Avenger and The Avengers. 

Now, there is one thing that legitimately surprised me. This serves as a disclaimer to those reading this who haven't seen it yet or are planning to take their children... there is a higher level of violence. A much higher level of violence.
Marvel movies are no stranger to fights, explosions, and car crashes but this movie seriously takes the cake. In addition to all of that we have people getting shot by fully automatic weapons, blind kills, hundreds being killed on the street at random, bombs, knife fights, brutal human on human beatings, and point blank executions. There were some little kids in my theater and I noticed parents walking them out during a couple of the major fight scenes and bringing them back after things calmed down. It definitely earned the PG-13 and I bet if there would have been blood included in all of it the film would have received an R-rating based on violence alone.
I'm not one of those people who advocates for less violence in film because I know it's pretend, but I think it could have been toned down a bit due to the nature of what these Marvel films are. People are taking their kids to see these movies because they are comic book superhero movies. When you have random people being thrown off rooftops and getting thrown into a burning jet turbine you are pushing the line a little bit. I've read a couple spoiler reviews since seeing it and I'm not the only one who walked away with a comment on the amount of violence this movie contained, so just a heads up if you're planning on taking any small kids to see this movie. It is a violent one and it's not the same as Thor throwing his hammer at a bunch of CGI creatures or Iron Man blasting some with his beams. It is continuous person on person violence often resulting in death. Don't bring your kids and say you weren't warned.

I don't want to spoil the rest of anything, so I will stop here. If you want to read on you can click the jump below the image. There I will discuss the plot in more detail along with the mid-credit and post-credit scenes. 
Overall I would now list Captain America: The Winter Soldier as the best Marvel movie to date. Sorry, but it was better than The Avengers.

SDCC: Captain America fights the post-Avengers world

Captain America: The Winter Soldier seems to be the first Phase Two movie that will actually acknowledge the post-Avengers world. Comic-Con revealed that Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) fights alongside Captain America (Chris Evans) while he struggles with adjusting to the modern world.

The panel consisted of Chris Evans, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie, and Colbie Smulders along with directors Joe and Anthony Russo.

What we learned from the panel:

1. Steve is struggling with the modern world not in terms of technology, but in societal and moral changes. It's tougher to tell right from wrong than it was in the 1940's.
2. Black Widow is an integral part in The Winter Soldier and fights alongside Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D.
3. The Winter Soldier (aka, Bucky Barnes) is close to the comic arc set by Ed Brubaker.

And, of course, there was a trailer. Here is the description:

It begins with a fantastic scene of Cap riding in an elevator.  He’s alone, wearing his costume (no helmet) with the shield on his back.  He’s lonely.  The elevator stops and two men board led by Grillo’s character.  Grillo’s character and Cap tersely acknowledge each other, and the elevator continue to go up.  The process repeats with more men getting on at multiple stops—some are dressed as agents, others are soldiers.  It’s a great visual metaphor for the sinister forces working alongside and closing in around Rogers.  Captain Amerian can sense their malovelent intentions towards him and he says, “Anyone who wants can still get off.”  No one moves, Cap hits the emergency stop, and the fight begins.  Despite the cramped quarters and handheld cameras, it’s a thrilling fight with Cap taking on eight or nine guys.  The Russos capture the action perfectly, and it’s cut together in a way that we move with the momentum of the fight rather than just trying to keep up with it.
After Captain beats up his attackers, we move on to the rest of the trailer which is a big montage.  One key moment is Fury telling Rogers, “We have to deal with the world as it is; not how we’d like it to be,” and Rogers responding, “That’s not freedom.  That’s fear”.  We also see the return as well as the destruction of the helicarrier.  We see Falcon fly and firing guns at a helicopter that’s chasing him and trying to shoot him down.  There are also a lot of fisticuffs on display from Natasha, and although the action has its own flavor, we don’t see much of the gritty spy stuff. Admittedly, it’s difficult to translate that an assault of images.  The closing shot is Cap’s shield embedded in the ground, and we see a bionic arm grab the top of it.  We pan up to reveal our first official look at the unmasked Winter Soldier.

[UPDATE] Here is a picture of the panel

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is aiming to give audiences a better glimpse into Steve Rogers as a character and also to further develop his individual storyline. It also gives the biggest reveal of the post-Avengers world in terms of how the public is dealing with the "outing" of the superheroes and aliens.

#TheWinterSoldier #Marvel #SDCC #CaptainAmerica

Frank Grillo joining Captain America 2?

Frank Grillo (Warrior, The Grey) confirmed via Twitter that he is in the testing phase for a villain role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The other villain roles have yet to be announced nor is there confirmation that Grillo is in fact joining the cast, but I think he would make a pretty decent villain. I can't wait to hear who the other villains are.

So far the only confirmations we have are Chris Evans returning as Steve Rogers (aka, Captain America) and Anthony Mackie who will be playing Falcon. It is also likely that Sebastian Stan will return to play Bucky Barnes (aka, The Winter Soldier). There are rumors circulating around a major female lead role but no one has been cast yet. The role hasn't even been named yet.

Captain America 2 to start filming in March 2013

According to Chris Evans, filming for Captain America: The Winter Soldier will begin in March 2013. The film is slated for release on April 4, 2014 so getting an early start definitely won't hurt anyone. Captain America: The First Avenger had a 13-month production as well so they might figure whatever worked the first time will work again.

Other than the assumed return of Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes (aka, The Winter Soldier) and the addition of Anthony Mackie as Falcon, it is said that S.H.I.E.L.D. and Samuel L. Jackson (aka, Nick Fury) play a bigger role in the sequel. That is about all we know so far.

Anthony Mackie rumored to play Falcon in Captain America 2

Another tidbit learned from this year's SD Comic-Con was the potential casting for a character in the upcoming Marvel sequel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The news is that Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker, Real Steel, Gangster Squad) is rumored to have secured the role of Falcon, aka Rogers' sidekick. 

If you have no idea who Falcon is...

"Sam Wilson was Harlem-based and had many street adventures with Captain America in the 1970s comics when he served as his partner. He derives his powers from a suit which allows him to fly and enhances his strength. He can also telepathically talk to birds. In current comics, Falcon is a key player in many of Captain America’s espionage adventures.”

Like I said above, he is basically Captain America's sidekick.  The only other tidbit I can share about the sequel is taken from the title alone; The Winter Soldier. If you don't know who The Winter Soldier is I think you should hop on Google and do a search on Bucky from The First Avenger. You'll find what I am referring to.