While many Captain America films have faced troubled productions or limited audiences, the initial trilogy of MCU Captain America films were critical and commercial successes, collectively grossing over $2.2 billion worldwide.The Winter Soldier was nominated forBest Visual Effects at theAcademy Awards in 2014, whileCivil War was thehighest-grossing film of 2016.
Dick Purcell as Captain America inCaptain America: The Purple Death (1944)
In 1944,Republic Pictures released a fifteen-partserial film starringDick Purcell as Captain America.[1] Based on the comic books published byTimely Comics – the corporate predecessor toMarvel Comics – it is the first film to feature a Marvel Comics character.[2] The serial deviates significantly from the comic book source material: the civilian identity of Captain America isdistrict attorney Grant Gardner rather thanU.S. Armyprivate Steve Rogers, the character's superhuman enhancement origin story andNazi villains are omitted, and the character uses a gun rather thanhis iconic shield.[3] Timely had little creative involvement in the film, and objected to Republic's treatment of the character.[2]Captain America was produced at anegative cost ofUS$222,906 (equivalent to $3,981,548 in 2024), making it the most expensive serial ever produced by Republic;[4] it was additionally the final superhero serial the company ever produced.[2] It was re-released in 1953 under the titleReturn of Captain America.[5]
In 1979, twoCaptain Americamade-for-TV films starringReb Brown as Steve Rogers aired on the American broadcast television stationCBS.[6] The first, titledCaptain America, was directed byRod Holcomb.[7] Set in the late 1970s, the film focuses on Rogers as he receives superhuman enhancement and becomes the costumed superhero Captain America, a moniker formerly used by his father during the Second World War.[7] Its sequel,Captain America II: Death Too Soon, was directed byIván Nagy and focuses on Rogers as he rescues a scientist who is forced by a terrorist (played byChristopher Lee) to create a formula that causes rapid aging.[8] Both films were produced as part of a partnership between Marvel and CBS to adapt Marvel properties for television, which also saw the creation ofThe Incredible Hulk (1977–1982),The Amazing Spider-Man (1977–1979), andDr. Strange (1978).[9]Captain America andDeath Too Soon were the final works produced by the partnership; plans to spin off the films into aCaptain America ongoing television series were abandoned due to low ratings.[10]
ProducersMenahem Golan andYoram Globus ofThe Cannon Group purchased the film rights to Captain America in 1984, and announced their plans to create a Captain America film withMichael Winner as director that same year.[11] Production stalled due to financial troubles at Cannon; Golan left the company in 1989 and carried the rights for the character over to21st Century Film Corporation, where he producedCaptain America in 1990 withAlbert Pyun as director.[11] StarringMatt Salinger as Steve Rogers, the film follows Captain America as he faces the villainousRed Skull (Scott Paulin) during the Second World War, becomesfrozen in ice, and is revived decades later to face Red Skull again.[12] While originally planned for a wide theatrical release,Captain America received only a brief theatrical release in the United Kingdom in 1990, and was later released in the United States as adirect-to-video film in 1992.[11]
Marvel began developing a Captain America film in 1997, withMark Gordon andGary Levinsohn as producers and Larry Wilson andLeslie Bohem as scriptwriters.[13]Artisan Entertainment were brought on as financers in 2000,[14] but production was stalled by a lawsuit between Marvel and Captain America co-creatorJoe Simon over the ownership of Captain America copyrights that was settled in 2003.[15] Marvel began to produce films independently in 2005, planning ashared universe of superhero films referred to as theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU),[16] and hired screenwriterDavid Self in 2006 to write the screenplay for what would becomeCaptain America: The First Avenger.[17]Joe Johnston was brought on to direct the film in 2008,[18] who hiredChristopher Markus and Stephen McFeely to rewrite the script.[19] ActorChris Evans was cast as Steve Rogers in 2010, signing a six-picture deal with Marvel to appear in threeCaptain America films and threeAvengers films.[20][21] The film focuses on Rogers as he confronts the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) during the Second World War.The First Avenger with was filmed from 2010 to 2011,[22][23] and released in July 2011.[24]
Markus and McFeely were hired to write a sequel toThe First Avenger in mid-2011,[25] which was publicly confirmed by Marvel to be in production in April 2012.[26]George Nolfi,F. Gary Gray, and brothersAnthony and Joseph Russo were among those considered by Marvel to direct the film,[27] with the Russo brothers ultimately signed to direct in June 2012.[28] The plot of the film is broadly inspired by theWinter Soldier story arc in theCaptain America comics written byEd Brubaker, which sees Steve Rogers uncover a conspiracy involving his former partnerBucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan, reprising his role fromThe First Avenger), now a brainwashed assassin known as the Winter Soldier.[29] Filming took place in 2013 and 2014,[30][31] and the film premiered in March 2014.[32] At the 2014Academy Awards,The Winter Soldier was nominated forBest Visual Effects.[33]
Markus and McFeely began writing a sequel toThe Winter Soldier in late 2013,[34] and the Russo brothers, Markus, McFeely, and Evans were publicly confirmed to be returning for the film in March 2014.[35] In October 2014 it was announced thatRobert Downey Jr. had been cast in the film, reprising the role ofIron Man / Tony Stark that he played in the 2008 filmIron Man.[36] With the announcement of Downey's casting, Marvel confirmed that the film would adapt the comic book seriesCivil War byMark Millar andSteve McNiven, which sees Captain America and Iron Man lead competing factions who respectively oppose and support efforts to regulate the actions of superheroes.[36] Filming forCivil War occurred in 2015,[37] and the film was released in April 2016.[38]Civil War was thehighest-grossing film of 2016, grossing over $1.1billion worldwide.[39]
Civil War was Evans' final contracted standalone film as Captain America, and concluded the trilogy of Captain America films starring the actor.[40] In 2021, Marvel released the television miniseriesThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier on the streaming serviceDisney+, which depicts the mantle of Captain America being assumed bySam Wilson (Anthony Mackie, who first appeared as theFalcon in 2014'sThe Winter Soldier).[41]Falcon and the Winter Soldier head writerMalcolm Spellman and series writerDalan Musson were confirmed to be writing a fourthCaptain America film in April 2021,[42] which was formally announced in July 2022 with Mackie as star andJulius Onah as director. Announced under the titleCaptain America: New World Order,[43] the film was retitledCaptain America: Brave New World in June 2023.[44] Filming occurred from March to June 2023,[45][46] andBrave New World was released in February 2025.
Marvel conceived of a film based on the superhero team theAvengers in 2003. It was conceptualized as acrossover film featuring an ensemble cast of superheroes, including Chris Evans as Captain America, who were to be initially established in their own individual films.[47][48] Casting for what would become the 2012 filmThe Avengers began in 2008,[49] with filming commencing in 2011. The film was written and directed byJoss Whedon.[50]
Three sequels toThe Avengers featuring Evans as Captain America were subsequently produced:Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015),[51]Avengers: Infinity War (2018), andAvengers: Endgame (2019).[52]Age of Ultron was written and directed by Whedon, while the latter two films were helmed byWinter Soldier andCivil War directors Anthony and Joseph Russo, and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.[53][54]Infinity War andEndgame were originally planned as atwo-part film,[55] but were later separated into two distinct films that were shotback-to-back in 2017;[56] as this arrangement exceeded Evans' original six-picture deal with Marvel, the actor renegotiated his contract with the company to appear inEndgame.[21] Evans additionally madecameo appearances as the character in the filmsThor: The Dark World (2013),[57]Ant-Man (2015),[58]Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017),[59] andCaptain Marvel (2019).[60]
^abcPotter, Benny; Rumbles, Dan; Keen, Jason (2016).The Rise of Comic Book Movies: From the Pages to the Big Screen. Mango Media. pp. 119–120.ISBN978-1-63353-342-4.
^ab"Justin Gross (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. RetrievedApril 28, 2023.
^abcd"Roger Craig Smith (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. RetrievedApril 28, 2023.
^"Matthew Mercer (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. RetrievedJune 20, 2017.
^abHayes, R.M. (2000).The Republic Chapterplays: A Complete Filmography of the Serials Released by Republic Pictures Corporation, 1934–1955.McFarland & Company. p. 76.ISBN978-0-7864-0934-1.
^Terrace, Vincent.Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials, Volume 2. New York Zoetrope. pp. 73–74.ISBN978-0-918432-61-2.
^Muir, John Kenneth (2008).The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television. McFarland. p. 215.ISBN978-0-7864-3755-9.
Burnham, Jeff (2016). "The Primetime Heroics of Small Screen Avengers: Finding Sociopolitical Value in Marvel TV Movies". In Peaslee, Robert Moses; Weiner, Robert Jr. (eds.).Marvel Comics Into Film: Essays on Adaptations Since the 1940s.McFarland & Company. pp. 138–149.ISBN978-0-7864-4304-8.
