Hasitha Fernando looks at the story behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier as the acclaimed Marvel Studios sequel turns 10…
Captain America: The Winter Soldier was the gritty, unconventional MCU entry that no one saw coming. The very antithesis of its light-hearted, nostalgia heavy predecessor, this hard-hitting actioner shared more in common with 70s paranoia thrillers than with conventional cape and cowl adventures. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, we look back at what took place behind-the-scenes during the making of this high-octane superhero film…
A famous comedy sitcom helped land the gig for the Russo Brothers
Filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo were new to the world of big-budget Hollywood tentpoles when they landed the gig offered by Marvel Studios. Overlooking such candidates as George Nolfi (The Adjustment Bureau) and F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton) Kevin Feige selected the siblings to helm Captain America: The Winter Soldier based solely on the duo’s work on two back-to-back episodes of the popular comedy sitcom Community. This duology of genre-parodying episodes titled “A Fistful of Paintballs” and “For a Few Paintballs More” functioned as an homage to Clint Eastwood’s man-with-no-name films from the 60s and possessed the manic energy that Feige sought for Cap’s sequel.
After the resounding success of Captain America: The Winter Soldier Joe and Anthony Russo went on to direct some of the most successful MCU movies of the Infinity Saga – Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The pair even branched out beyond the MCU going on to produce and helm the Extraction franchise as well as the Grey Man films for Netflix.
Robert Redford took the assignment because of his grandchildren
Robert Redford is one of those rare actors who has been able to make his mark on every decade he’s worked in. With a career spanning over six decades the Hollywood legend has worked in front of and behind the camera to craft some truly compelling pieces of cinema which include the likes of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The Sting (1973), Three Days of the Condor (1975), All the President’s Men (1976), Ordinary People (1980), and A River Runs Through it (1992). The veteran actor has mostly shied away from glitzy, mainstream movies, opting to take on more challenging, character driven affairs throughout his career and because of this he famously turned down playing Superman in Richard Donner’s Superman (1978) even though a large sum of money was attached with the offer.
However, Redford’s perspective changed when he was offered the role of Alexander Pierce in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and the reason wasn’t because of Kevin Feige’s clout, or the price tag attached to the role – it was simply because of his grandchildren. It turned out that Redford’s grandkids were huge fans of the MUC and the actor wanted to be part of a legacy that they adored. For Feige & co. this was a huge win, since they were looking to cast Redford to pay homage to his roles in 70s political thrillers like Three Days of the Condor and Alexander Pierce’s character was the polar opposite of what Redford usually played in such movies.
Anthony Mackie had a dream of playing a Marvel Comics character in a film
Making his film debut starring in the semi-autobiographical drama 8 Mile (2002), Anthony Mackie received further acclaim for his supporting performances in movies like Brother to Brother (2004), Half Nelson (2006), The Hurt Locker (2008) and The Adjustment Bureau (2011). However, it was with Captain America: The Winter Soldier that Mackie achieved global recognition for playing Sam Wilson/Falcon in the MCU.
The actor was so keen on being cast that he wrote a series of e-mail pleas to Marvel, wanting to play any comic book character that would appear on film. Though the studio didn’t think much of Mackie’s pleas, his persistence caught the attention of none other than Kevin Feige, who offered him the opportunity to star opposite Chris Evans and Scarlet Johannson in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Apart from fulfilling his dream of playing a Marvel comic book character on film, Mackie also wanted to give African-American kids another black superhero to in the MCU apart from Don Cheadle’s War Machine from the Iron Man films.
The movie was a 70s conspiracy thriller masquerading as a superhero movie
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely may not ring a bell for most people, but thanks to box-office juggernauts like Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame under their belt, the writer duo have become two of the most successful screenwriters of all time in terms of box-office receipts. Starting their careers with the critically acclaimed Emmy Award winning mini-series The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, the duo’s next assignment was a big screen adaptation of C.S Lewis’ classic The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005). The success of the adaptation convinced the studios to hire the pair for the subsequent sequels of the series as well. But it was with their collaborations with Marvel Studios that they really hit things off.
After penning Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Markus and McFeely were thinking how to progress Steve Roger’s narrative from the World War II setting to a more contemporary setting, and that’s when they decided to adapt Ed Brubaker’s immensely successful Winter Soldier storyline from the comics. The duo took further inspiration from hard-edged 70s conspiracy thrillers like Three Days of the Condor, The Parallax View, and Marathon Man, feeling that they better conveyed the paranoia and distrust Captain America would harbor in a world of shadow governments and dark politics. Markus elaborated more on this by saying, “If you put that 1940s man into present day geo-politics everything is going to seem like a conspiracy. It’s just going to seem dirty and underhanded and shifty, and people won’t be telling the truth.”
Three Days of the Condor in particular was used as the main source of the script structure, following the idea that the protagonist is being chased by a threat they, along with the audience, only discover halfway through the film. After the Russos boarded the project, they too were sold on Markus and McFeely’s intent on making the story a political thriller of sorts. Since all great political thrillers have elements of real-world politics in them the Russos suggested to include references to the Patriot Act, asymmetric warfare, drone strikes and global surveillance into the narrative as well.
The Russos were fans of old-fashioned practical effects
Although six special effects companies worked on over 2500 visual effects shots for Captain America: The Winter Soldier the Russos wanted to keep things in camera using real world solutions such as intense stunt work, practical effects, and ingenious props, thus minimizing the usage of computer-generated imagery as much as possible. Anthony Mackie had this to say about the Russos’ unique approach to the film, “The Russos, what they did that was so great was, they wanted to stay with live action, which is a dying art form. If they can build it, they built it. If we could do it, we did it. They wanted to do as little CGI as possible. That’s why the movie looks so great.” And we cannot agree with him more.
Nikolaj Coster Waldau, Kevin Durand, and Josh Holloway screen tested for Crossbones
In the comics Brock Rumlow a.k.a Crossbones was a mercenary and highly skilled combatant who worked closely with the Red Skull on many of his nefarious activities. But when it came to the MCU iteration of the character Rumlow was depicted as a HYDRA infiltrator posing as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent with a serious hard on for Cap. Ultimately Rumlow got seriously disfigured and injured during the battle at the Triskelion, when he was almost crushed by a massive hellicarrier.
A host of actors were considered for the role of Brock Rumlow/Crossbones before Frank Grillo, of The Purge fame, was cast. Some of the actors in contention for the role were Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Shot Caller), Kevin Durand (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), and Josh Holloway (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol). But since getting his breakthrough role Grillo has expressed disappointment about how his character’s time in the MCU was cut unceremoniously short by his abrupt death in Captain America: Civil War. “They never told a story [about Crossbones],” Grillo revealed during an interview with ComicBook.com. “The mythology of the MCU and just what Marvel has in its pool of characters, it’s so deep. Crossbones was there for a minute, but he was supposed to be there longer, then they went the direction they did.”
The Arnim Zola computer scene proved to be a problematic one
The comic book supervillain Arnim Zola possessed something of a goofy visage in the source materials, replete with a robotic body that bore his digital countenance front and center. For the longest time the Russos were trying their utmost to be as comic book accurate as possible, but the surreal, over-the-top look of the character clashed horribly with the overall gritty aesthetic of the rest of the film. As a result, there was a lot of back and forth when crafting the Arnim Zola computer scene in the movie, and the final version that we see in the finished product was edited a mere two weeks before the film’s release.
Captain America’s ‘to-do-list’ differed from country to country
At the start of the Captain America: The Winter Soldier we see Cap maintaining a list of things he missed during his 60-year ice-nap. These ranged from popular TV sitcoms, famous bands, and notable historical events of the past four decades. However, it was revealed that the first five list entries differed based on where the movie was released. For example, where U.S audiences saw a list which included I Love Lucy, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Steve Jobs and disco, the variation that UK viewers saw mentioned, Sherlock, The Beatles, the 1966 World Cup final and Sean Connery. Across the pond, keen eyed French movie goers saw that Cap’s list contained the 1998 World Cup, Daft Punk, and The Fifth Element while South Korean viewers saw Oldboy, Ji Sung Park and the videogame Dance Dance Revolution. Pretty neat right?
The film was Chris Evans’ favourite Marvel movie experience
Chris Evans was no stranger to comic book movies having starred in adaptations based on comic book properties like – Fantastic Four, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Snowpiercer and The Losers – over the years. However, the talented actor hit the proverbial big time by being selected to play the MCU’s Steve Rogers/Captain America after a rigorous casting process. His onscreen debut as the titular character on Captain America: The First Avenger drew unanimous praise from fans and critics alike but Avengers: Endgame saw his character arc come to a close in a very definite way.
Evans reflected on his time in the MCU and his experience on Captain America: The Winter Soldier during an interview done this year saying the following, “It’s my personal favorite Marvel movie I’ve been a part of. And it’s not just for the movie itself, but the experience. On the first film, I was so nervous. You know what you’re stepping into, you know what Marvel’s expecting out of it. As a result, you’re playing defense; you’re playing not to lose. When Winter Soldier came around, we were all kind of playing to win. It was my first film with the Russos. There was a lot to prove, to make your mark, taking more risks. The character felt more fleshed out. It was a really exciting time, and I think they nailed it. So, for me, it was one of the more satisfying experiences in my Marvel run.”
Another bonafide hit for Kevin Feige & Marvel Studios
To say that Marvel Studios had a bona fide hit on their hands with Captain America: The Winter Soldier would be something of an understatement. Produced on a budget of $170 million, the comic book flick went on to rake in an impressive $714.4 million at the worldwide box-office by the conclusion of its theatrical run. This was certainly a huge step up from Steve Rogers’ first outing Captain America: The First Avenger which ended up making only $370.6 million on a similar production budget. The film also proved to be a major hit with film critics as well with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reporting an approval rating of 90% based on 312 reviews, which was an impressive feat.
Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter said the film “takes the bold (for Marvel) step of reducing CGI spectacle to a relative minimum in favor of reviving the pleasures of hard-driving old-school action, surprising character development and intriguing suspense.” Scott Foundas of Variety commented that the movie is “chockfull of the breathless cliffhangers dictated by the genre, but equally rich in the quiet, tender character moments that made the first film unique among recent Marvel fare.” Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly noted the topicality of the film, and compared it to Christopher Nolan’s Shakespearian crime drama The Dark Knight. The movie even earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects along with garnering multiple nominations at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, People’s Choice Awards and Saturn Awards.
Looking back at the effort 10 years later one can confidently state that it was certainly one of the best outputs put forth by the MCU, and one whose themes remain relevant now more than ever.
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Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
