Director Joe Johnston must have been dying to talk about his next project, Marvel Studios' The First Avenger: Captain America, because information about the movie has been pouring out of him lately. Johnston spoke at length about the movie over the weekend, explaining that he aims to cast an "unknown" American actor in the title role (sorry, Sam Worthington), divulging how he plans to incorporate the character's colorful costume into the gritty WWII setting, and revealing the news that the
Red Skull will be the major villain.
As tantalizing as those bits and pieces of information may be to comic book movie fans, the
latest news trumps them all. Devin Faraci of CHUD has reported that Captain America (Cap) will not be the only costumed adventurer in the movie. Faraci claims that he spoke with Johnston at the press day for
The Wolfman and was told that Cap's wartime allies, The Invaders, would be appearing "in the entire second half" of the movie.
For the uninitiated, The Invaders were an international coalition of superheroes that banded together to stop the Nazi threat during WWII. The roster of the Cap-led team changed over the years, but the primary members were: Cap's young protégé, Bucky (aka The Winter Soldier, current bearer of the Captain America mantle in the Marvel Comics series); the fiery duo of the Human Torch and Toro; Cap's British counterpart, Union Jack; and the Lord of Atlantis, Namor, the Sub-Mariner.
The news of The Invaders' appearance is significant to comic book movie fans because it will be the largest collection of Marvel superheroes in a single movie since 2006's X-Men Origins: The Last Stand. Even more important, it will be an opportunity to showcase Cap's ability to lead other superpowered heroes into battle, something that he will undoubtedly be called on to do when all of Marvel Studios' heroes gather in The Avengers movie, due in 2012.