In the last few weeks, the rumours surrounding the lead role in Marvel’s Captain America movie have gone insane. In January, director Joe Johnston promised a decision was imminent, but it currently appears that they’re having difficulty deciding who should appear in the lead role.
A couple of weeks ago a shortlist popped up online that included John Krasinski (The Office), Chase Crawford (Gossip Girl), Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights), Mike Vogel (Poseidon), Michael Cassidy (Privileged), Patrick Flueger (Brothers) and Garrett Hudlund (Tron Legacy). Since then it’s been reported it was narrowed down to Hedlund and Vogel, with Chris Evan and Wilson Bethel added to the list. Now it appears a couple more names are in contention.
Hitfix and MTV spoke to Ryan Phillippe at SXSW, and he said “[I] actually am going in to meet on ‘Captain America,’ which is kind of cool. After Superman, he was kind of my favorite.” Meanwhile to add to the confusion, Deadline is saying that G.I. Joe himself, Channing Tatum, has been asked to screentest, although as yet there’s no news on whether he’s interested.
All this suggests Marvel is having an incredibly tough time finding the right person for the role. However with reports that Hugo Weaving will play the villain, Red Skull, it seems they’re already casting other roles, with Deadline suggesting they’re testing leads for the female role of Peggy. So far those involved in this casting process have a decidedly British slant, with Keira Knightley, Alice Eve and Emily Blunt all under consideration. Blunt nearly played Black Widow in Iron Man 2, but had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts, so it’d seem she’s got a good chance with this role.
Currently Marvel seems very undecided about everything, but hopefully they’ll make up their minds soon and we’ll finally know who’s playing Captain America.