New Captain America Picture

It's that time of the month, the day we reveal the new Empire cover and its stars-and-stripes covered star, Captain America: The First Avenger. Doesn't he look upstanding and anti-Nazi-y? Roll on World War II, we say.

The film, of course, tells the story of skinny, weak Steve Rogers (Chris Evans. plus a bunch of digital trickery), who is determined to fight in World War II despite constantly being turned down for service on medical grounds, and who becomes a volunteer for a Super Soldier Serum formula which turns him into the ultimate soldier (Chris Evans, plus a weight regime that would kill lesser men). Only problem is the fiendish Nazis he's going to have to fight, led by their ruthless commander Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) and his men.

Click the cover for a full preview of the new issue

“Scripts had been developed that took place half in World War Two, half in the modern day and none of those scripts were particularly successful because the costume ended up overshadowing the man,” says Marvel chief Kevin Feige. “So we finally said, ‘If we could make a Captain America movie any way we wanted to make it, how would we make it?’ Well, we’d set the entire movie in the past, in that period, with all of the Marvel trimmings. And so we made the fun, kick-ass Captain America movie we wanted to.”

“I’ve always loved Raiders and the tone that it had,” says director Joe Johnston. “It was period but didn’t feel like it was made in the period. It felt like a modern-day film about the period, which is what we’re doing on Captain America. It will not feel like a war movie. It’s funny where it needs to be and emotional where it needs to be and serious and full of action.”

And he's not just an American hero, argues Evans. “I think he’s the ideal human,” says Evans. “Not just American. It’s what being a good person is. Steve’s managed to overcome all the shortcomings he’s had in life and he does what’s good and what he believes is right.”

Pick up the new issue in shops from Thursday 3 February.

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