Captain America: The First Avenger opened in theaters on July 22, 2011, just over10 years ago. Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely of Chronicles of Narnia fame, it launched a creative relationship that would rapidly lead to several of the highest-grossing films of all time (The Captain America trilogy, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame).
In a new series, we’ll be examining an interview with Yahoo where Markus and McFeely break down some of the biggest surprises from the development of their first Marvel movie. In this third installment, we’ll look at their ideas for a radically different third act.
The First Avenger’s Original Ending Had Captain America Fighting A HYDRA Robot
After relating how Chris Evans evolved the role of Steve Rogers beyond the initial drafts, Markus also described one of the biggest changes to the script: a giant HYDRA robot!
“A large chunk of the third act was Cap fighting this robot. I think eventually [its removal] was a budget and time thing… Where it was like, ‘We really can’t be spending that much time.’”
(Markus)
Going into further detail, the writers explained that it would have been Panzer Max, a Nazi super robot controlled by Hugo Weaving’s Red Skull. Panzer Max is a real character, albeit an obscure one: the robot has appeared in only ONE Marvel comic in 2009 and ostensibly was forgotten immediately.
After breaking countless box office records with Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, Markus and McFeely remained active as writers and producers via the Russo Brothers’ AGBO company. Their upcoming films include Cambridge Analytica, The Electric State with Millie Bobbie Brown, and The Gray Man with Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling. Captain America 4 starring Anthony Mackie is currently undated, but we might expect it in late 2023.
Captain America: The First Avenger stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, Tommy Lee Jones as Chester Phillips, Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt / Red Skull, Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter, Sebastian Stan as James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, Neal McDonough as Timothy “Dum Dum” Dugan, Derek Luke as Gabe Jones, and Stanley Tucci as Abraham Erskine.
What do you think, was a Nazi robot too crazy for Phase 1, or would it have made for a better third act finale? After 10 years since release, what’s your relationship with Marvel Studios’ first Captain America movie? Let us know on our social media and stay tuned to be notified of more MCU news and updates like this in the future!
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Source: Yahoo Entertainment
