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Disney sent 5 Minutes for Mom contributing blogger Dawn Cullo to cover the screening of “Captain America” and to interview the cast. Dawn’s expenses were paid for the trip but no other compensation was paid and all opinions are Dawn’s.
As part of the Captain America portion of my recent trip to Los Angeles I had the opportunity to interview Kevin Feige. He is the producer of “Captain America: The Winter Solider,” and also the President of Marvel Studios. Feige was named President of Marvel Studios in 2007. He oversees all creative aspects of Marvel’s feature film and home entertainment.
Since 2000 he has been involved in bringing Marvel comic book characters to the big screen. He was involved in the extremely successful “Spider-Man” and “X-Men” trilogies.
Feige was the producer on the 2011 release of “Captain America: The First Avenger” which opened at No. 1. The following year he was also the producer of “Marvel’s The Avengers,” which set and all -time, domestic three-day weekend box-office record at $207.4 million. I have nephews and I can happily say that they love the Avengers. The film eventually went on to gross $1.5 billion worldwide, becoming Disney’s highest-grossing global and domestic release of all time.
Kevin is currently producing Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” opening August 1, 2014, “Avengers: Age of Ulton,” opening May 1, 2005, and “Ant-Man,” set for released July 2015
Kevin explains that Marvel is a shared Universe, at first they set out to make a great “Iron Man” movie, then they decided to challenge themselves and try to string all the Marvel movies together. Kevin liked this idea because it allows the studio to broaden their audience. Each movie feels like it could stand alone yet are still connected to each other. Not only is this a challenge for the studio but it is also their mission statement.
As you can see, Kevin is a busy guy. I was honored to be able to sit in the same room with such a successful man and participate in the interview.
The Buckey Barnes Controversy
There has been some controversy in bringing back the Winter Solider. Kevin said that Comic book fans know that characters always come back to life with the exception of Uncle Ben and Bucky Barnes. But 10 years ago Edward Brubaker changed all that when he went to publishing with his idea of using the Winter Solider idea of bringing Bucky back. He pitched his idea and they loved it. Kevin explains that at the time he had nothing to do with Brubaker’s idea but they took the successful blue print of that concept and used it in this movie.
According to Brubaker coming up with the Winter Solider was started when he was 8 years old. “I had already been reading the comics for about four years and I had ever issue of ‘Captain America’ from #100 on,” recalls Brubaker. “I always thought there was an issue #99 where Captain America and Bucky got blown up by Baron Zemo and Bucky died, and then I went to San Diego Comic Con for the first time and I found out that didn’t actually happen and that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had just decided not to bring Bucky back when they brought Captain America back. I was a big Bucky fan and I thought to myself, “If I ever get to write a Captain America comic, I’m going to bring Bucky back”
Captain America is a Unique Superhero
Kevin explains that Marvel always wants their movies to feel different and never cookie cutter or feel like they keep coming off an assembly line; otherwise the audience will start to loose interest. He strives to make each film feel unique. Within the Captain America story his situation is very unique in that Steve Rogers (aka Captain America) starts his adventure in the 1940’s and then arrives in the the present day. He had a brief adventure in the “Avengers” but not enough time to fully figure out his situation.
“Captain America: The Winter Solider” takes place two years after the “Avengers”. Now that Captain America is in his own movie during the present day they are able to fully showcase his skills. Marvel had the opportunity to do something totally unique and bring a Marvel Superhero into a 70’s style action movie.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D
As a result of what happens in this movie there will be repercussions to the storyline on the TV show Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” The script for “Captain America: The Winter Solider” existed before the TV Show so what happens in this movie and those following it will have an impact on the TV show.
The Cast
When they were pulling together the cast there were a variety of ways the roles were matched up to actors. Obviously Chris Evans was signed on to reprise his role as Captain America. According to Feige it was great to have Evans play Captain America again because he is such a good actor and is growing and embracing this part. Scarlett Johansson was also brought back to play Black Widow and for the part Falcon they already wanted Anthony Mackie to play the role so they asked him and he said “yes”.
Marvel received a call from Robert Redford’s agent asking if they had any roles for him to play. They instantly thought he would be great in the role of Alexander Pierce. Marvel made some adjustments to the character to make it a bit more of a robust role worthy of Robert Redford.
Kevin explains now with ten movies under their belt celebrities trust Marvel and know that they wont look silly in their costumes and understand that Marvel will bring their best to the production of the movie.
What’s Next
Marvel is actively working on a many number of things at once. They are working in the cutting room for “Guardians of the Galaxy” and currently filming “Aveners Age of Ultron” to be released May 2015 as well as “Ant-Man” to be released July 2015.
More about Captain America
“Captain America: The Winter Solider,” is the second movie in the Captain America movie franchise. It is based upon the Marvel comic book series first published in 1941. The story follows Steve Rogers aka Captain America in his quest to defend his country and adjust to the modern world. Since its debut in 1941 the Captain America comics have sold more than 210 million copies in more than 70 countries.
In Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Steve Rogers teams up with Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, to battle a powerful yet shadowy enemy in present-day Washington, D.C.
Written by 5 Minutes for Mom Contributor, Dawn Cullo.
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