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Steve Rogers is angry.
Hunted by the very government hes sworn to defend, the living WW2 legend is on the run.
The two stare out the windscreen, Evans scowling, Johansson all grim determination.
Wind whipping her hair, she grabsher pistol and aims it at the glass.
The car shakes violently.
Hes about to go ballistic…
Cut!
The wind machine is turned off.
The trio catch their breath, and smile goofily into the camera.
Fittingly, for a bust-up with an all-American hero, its the day before the Fourth of July.
The key was progression.
Like any maturing guy, Cap is brooding, moody and ready to kick ass.
With Avengers you got a lot of characters you had to address.
With this one you could really focus on Steve adjusting to how things are right now.
In that regard it’s possible for you to kind of play with his moral compass.
Thats a lot to deal with when the worlds under threat.
But there are gonna be challenges in terms of where he fits.
In this movie they kind of explore how the world has changed.
Steve is used to the 40s, where its very clear whos good and whos bad.
So its a grey area for Steve.
And neither are co-directors and newbies to the Marvel universe, siblings Anthony and Joe Russo.
We grew up on Scorsese, says Joe in explaining their appointment when he and his rother join us.
We grew up on Coppola.
We studied The French Connection 50 times.
So, Winter Soldier will be super talky?
Fear not, assures Joe.
Theres a lot of action in this movie, as much as Avengers, if not more.
But theres also a lot of character work.
So it sort of goes between the two.
Just like in a 70s thriller.
Mnnnn, intriguing… Like Evans, the Russo brothers appear unphased by audience or industry expectation.
We havent felt a great deal of pressure and Ill tell you why, says Joe.
The movies so tonally different from everything thats come before, its a bit of its own animal.
Thats very difficult to do.
We get to bring some vanilla ice cream to the table.
mastermind Alexander Pierce).
It certainly has its action set-pieces and scope to it.
But it made a billion dollars.
It just happened to tell a good story and it had really good character work in it.
Thats what the audience responded to.
That sets a very high bar for fireworks in the third act.
But fireworks can be emotional as much as they are spectacle.
Within its cast, The Winter Soldier promises enough fireworks to fuel a dozen New Years Eve celebrations.
Theres also the introduction of S.H.I.E.L.D.s Agent 13 (Emily VanCamp) as a potential love interest for Cap.
Its about trying to figure out where you fit in, says Evans.
They have a great line in the movie, that S.H.I.E.L.D.
takes the world as it is, not as wed like it to be.
Thats what Steves going through.
Widow’s Peak
Widows peak Fortunately, Cap has the help of Johanssons Black Widow.
I take it to the streets in a different way.
Theres a real kind of Big Brother aspect to this film.
Everything is not as it seems.
Its not so black and white, its not so cut and dry, its not good versus evil.
The stakes are much higher.
It brings them closer together because they find themselves in a vulnerable situation and theyre in it together.
We certainly have to trust one another in a way we never trusted each other before, nods Evans.
Thats kind of Caps struggle as well.
He works for an agency that deals in secrets, and trust is a big issue.
Thats always been his issue with Nick Fury, and that extends to anyone who works with S.H.I.E.L.D.
at that level of confidentiality.
Shes in her adolescence as well.
Cap may have been a dude before but now hes properly kick-ass.
Hes throwing himself into all the modern training, says co-director Anthony Russo.
He understands techniques like Krav Maga, things that soldiers use these days in all kinds of fighting scenarios.
Hes the best SEAL Team 6 operative in the world.
Also, the use of Caps shield is different in this.
His knife-handling skills are a little bit better than Caps.
Hes a very worthy opponent.
How are you going to deal with a problem like that?
Try Caps most potent weapon, his new buddy Sam Wilson, a G.I.
whose combat training has given him a pair of techno wings and a code name: The Falcon.
And judging by the killer trailer footage, badass Falcons going to be a new fan favorite.
We wanted to bring in Caps most famous partner from the books.
It was something early on that we decided.
We thought, Does he just hang around the VA and talk to elderly people that were in WW2?
Thats what led us to making Sam Wilson a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Thats how they meet and find a connection.
Like the Navy SEALs.
Its a lot of me on wires screaming and them saying Action and me flying around.
Then they take me and swing me.
The actor recalls one especially harrowing experience.
Im like, Well, the cable guy is supposed to stop me, because these arent real wings.
Theyre like, No, no, no.
Just hit the ground and go to the car.
So they pull me up and they let me go.
In midair I realised, Ive never flown before.
So I have no idea how to stop.
Im like, I think I know how to land.
Lets do it again.
I call all of them at Marvel every Monday, he laughs.
Im like, So have yall decided if Im in Avengers 2 yet?
Ill get on the bus to Albuquerque tomorrow!
Lets not get ahead of ourselves, eh?
We start filming the next Avengers film at the end of March.
Widows part in that is very big.
We wanted to change the dynamic of the cinematic universe with this film.
This article first appeared inTotal Filmissue 217, back in 2014.
