CAPTAIN AMERICA
THE WINTER SOLDIER While I do realize this is already my second article focusing on Marvel Studios, I simply cannot ignore the fact that their existence actually truly inspired me to start a blog in the first place. Furthermore, I have been observing the latest trailers for the upcoming film Captain America: The Winter Soldier and as the film will soon be released I thought I would throw in my own personal two cents. Presumably it will take over the role of Iron Man 2 in Phase 2, while not focusing too much on that exact buildup. Maybe that is attributed to S.H.I.E.L.D. being a part of the entire storyline instead of suddenly appearing out of left field. While whatever I am stating now might have no deeper meaning than being simple speculation on my part, I believe there is at least a sense of excitement seeing where you were right or wrong.
“THEY CALL HIM THE WINTER SOLDIER” It is difficult to talk about the actual subtitle for the film, as those unaware of the character’s origin, as it might be a giant spoiler for people. So, while I could simply state who this character is in this universe, I will try to avoid blatantly spelling it out. What I do want to point out though is I am curious how the relationship between this character and Rogers will be portrayed within this film. In the trailers he is deemed as a drone, who only focuses on the task at hand and someone who had left behind his humanity a long time ago. Yet, what baffled me was this one scene where the Soldier captures Cap’s shield. A little close-up of his face shows so much agony and sadness that we come to understand that he knows exactly was happening around him. Hopefully this will be further realized in the film and we may get to see how such a thing can affect a human being.
“TO BUILD A BETTER WORLD...” This sentence I absolutely find fascinating. Robert Redford’s character states very clearly that to make a safer world you need to tear the old one down. This alongside the scene with the Helicarriers may be a reflection on how Drone’s are used nowadays. While the world tries to become a safer place we try to regain control, but in a way that is no simple task as too much control may take away freedom. S.H.I.E.L.D. has already been questioned in the show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as even one of their veteran agents, Phil Coulson, has lost trust in something he once dedicated his entire life too. There is actually more to this sentence than simply stating how the film will slowly show a new world appearing, probably also building up towards the existence of Ultron. Why name an entire show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. if after the first season that organization will be taken down in its only future film? In just the trailer we see the fall with all the Helicarriers crashing, as it seems as if the organization was being eaten alive from the inside. This is something I am really only theorizing on, as I have no idea what exactly they are planning, but there is a short scene where Captain America and Black Widow enter an old abandoned building of the organization. Could we maybe see the reconstruction of S.H.I.E.L.D. in this show? Maybe after the season finale I can touch upon this topic once again.
“THIS ISN’T FREEDOM, THIS IS FEAR!” While the film feels as if it is focusing more on S.H.I.E.L.D., it still is Captain America’s film. The trailers seem to use him to great effect, as he is in the middle of the entire conflict that is slowly erupting around him. He is completely at odd with what the organization is trying to accomplish. They are simply trying to preserve mankind and destroy the fabric of corruption before it occurs. Rogers is a firm believer that you shouldn’t judge a man before he committed a crime. He knows this so well, because he was no different before he became the man he is today. So, he believes that everyone, no matter how evil deserves a chance. In Avengers, he faced Loki but only attacked as a reaction to what he was doing. The fact that he is in Germany stating that only one man was the reason for its corruption speaks a lot for the character. Even if he fought against them in the 2nd World War, he never believed that all of them were truly evil. It will certainly be interesting how he will adapt to the world that is changing around him. What I find a nice touch is that we won’t be seeing the fish-out-of-water story, as we already saw that with Thor, who is more out of sync with our world than the man, who was frozen in time for around 70 years.
Yes, I could go into the fact that Redford spoiled the fact that he might be playing a villain in this film. I also am a firm believer that the actual villain of this film will indeed be HYDRA, who probably had spread out across the United States. Maybe their infiltration might even play a role in the rumored Agent Carter series. What I find the most interesting is simply how we might get a better into our world when superheroes not only live in it, but an entire organization is trying to keep from any others appearing to wreak havoc across the nation. While people do complain Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been too light in the beginning, it probably was meant as a contrast to the much darker themes that we would be seeing in this film. I am rather curious how these two very distinctive media will affect each other as a tie-in has been confirmed. This is a just a little side note of mine, but I really am looking to this film. I think this might be a turning point either for the entire company or just the second phase. With Guardians of the Galaxy coming next we won’t have much of our classic heroes until next year in May, which is very evident with the early release of this year. Only a little more than a month to go and anticipation keeps on rising. All we can do now is speculate and predict.