SDCC 10: Captain America Delivers

Fans of Captain America were rewarded with a glimpse at Chris Evans in costume and our first look at Red Skull in action.

Marvel's panel ushered out The First Avenger, with Marvel's Kevin Feige, Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving and director Joe Johnston on hand to introduce a very eager crowd to Cap's new movie.

The very definition of a teaser trailer kicked off the First Avenger presentation, as old WWII newsreel footage played over a shape that was revealed to be Cap's shield - very cool.

FDR's "Day of Infamy" radio speech plays over the footage as title cards read: "Our Courage and Strength Led Us Into Battle. Stories Emerged of Heroes, But One Story Has Never Been Told."

Cut to a shot of Captain America standing in a massive hangar bay, in silhouette. Then, Tommy Lee Jones' Col. Chester Phillips says in voiceover: "Today we're going to make the best army in history. And every great army starts with one man..." That one man is Cap.

A title card pops up: "Next Summer, Meet the First Avenger" - and then we cut to a quick shot of Cap from the waist up, but it's gone before we can get a good look, cutting to the movie's title.

The teaser ends with an awesome shot of Cap tossing his shield at camera before cutting to black.

In short: It's good to be a fanboy.

And it became even better when the filmmakers showed a raw scene - that looked quite polished - from their first eight days of shooting. The clip seems to occur early in the movie, and it introduces us to Red Skull - before the villain's face becomes, well, nothing but a red skull.



It's May 1942, in Norway. The wall of a stronghold trembles as the two guards inside are shocked at the sight of Nazis bulldozing the wall. Foot soldiers storm inside and secure a tomb. Then their leader, Hugo Weaving's Red Skull, enters the chamber and engages the lead guard in a discussion about the contents of the tomb, a tomb he orders his men to open.

Inside, we look down on the tomb's occupant - a very dead man buried with what looked like a sword. Soon, Weaving's baddie removes the Cosmic Cube from the tomb and speaks of its supernatural power as it casts a brilliant blue light across his face before the clip ends.

We really dug the footage here; it's almost as if the tone of the film is Band of Brothers as shot through the lens of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

And the panel managed to drop the following story points: Cap may receive his super serum closer toward the end of the movie and become Cap, much like Bond doesn't really don the Bond look and become Bond until the end of Casino Royale. Also, fans can expect to see Weaving sporting the Red Skull visage with practical make-up, no CG. (Woot!).

Also also: The movie's story will take place mostly during WW II, but have present-day bookends. Also also also: The costume Evans wore in the teaser was not the final version, and the shots we glimpsed were from the actor's costume screen tests.

If you were one of the lucky fans who got to see this footage first hand, please sing its praises (or anti-praise) in the Comments below.