Captain America Winter Solider Premiere Chris Evans - H 2014
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for DisneyChris Evans already has one successful Captain America film and the record-breaking ensemble superhero film with The Avengers ($1.5 billion worldwide) under his belt, so you’d think that returning for the sequel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, would be a cake walk for the star.
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But at the world premiere in Hollywood on Thursday, Evans told THR that the second film was as challenging as ever.
“There’s always a level of expectation and Marvel keeps raising the bar higher and higher,” he told THR on the red carpet. “But you have confidence that they’re going to make a good movie, you kind of let yourself go and allow yourself to be directed. And you really just become one small piece of the Marvel puzzle.”
More than two years after Captain America first hit theaters, Steve Rogers is back on the big screen, bringing with him returning favorites Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and SHIELD director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). The Disney and Marvel film, which sees Steve Rogers adjusting to life in the modern day, also introduces new characters The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp).
The Marvel film universe has become a rapidly expanding family, and many of its members attended The Winter Soldier premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on Thursday night. In addition to the film’s stars Evans, Johansson (pregnant, and wearing Giorgio Armani Prive), Jackson, Mackie, VanCamp (wearing Monique Lhuillier), Frank Grillo, Cobie Smulders and the Winter Soldier himself, Sebastian Stan, also in attendance were The Avenger‘s Hawkeye Jeremy Renner and the stars of ABC’s Agents of SHIELD. Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge joined the party.
After walking the red carpet outside the theater, the cast and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige were introduced to the crowd as red, white and blue fireworks lit up behind them.
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Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who wrote The Winter Soldier along with Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The First Avenger, told THR that the sequel looks at “where does the man called Captain America fit into this gray world we live in now?”
After The Winter Soldier, the next Avengers film to hit the big screen will be The Avengers: Age of Ultron, directed by Joss Whedon. Markus and McFeely say they collaborated with Feige to make sure the events of Winter Soldier would work with the ensemble sequel.
“We do things here that [Whedon] has to deal with and he knew we were doing them,” says McFeely.
“Obviously we can’t kill off the Avengers before they have their second movie,” adds Markus. “But that’s the good thing about Marvel. Even though it’s an interconnecting universe, the mandate is always ‘Do the most exciting things you can do for this movie. Don’t save anything.’ “
The duo tells THR they have already started working on the third Captain America film. “We’ve had many, many conversations, and pretty much know where we’re going,” says Markus.
As for the news that Captain America 3 will face off against Warner Bros.’ Superman-Batman film, the writers told THR that that is indeed the situation — for now.
“I think when two cars drive at each other, somebody has to veer off eventually,” says Markus.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits theaters on April 4.
E-mail: Rebecca.Ford@THR.com
Twitter: @Beccamford
