Reworking a script is one of the most important steps before any movie goes into production. A similar thing happened with Marvel Studios when they decided to work on the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger.

Starring Chris Evans in the leading role of Captain America, the film was one of the OG Marvel movies, which hinted at the possibility of a bigger universe far beyond these solo movies. Although the film is almost entirely set in the 1940s, the original script for The First Avenger would have handled things much differently.

Captain America: The First Avenger was exclusively set in the past

The point of the whole movie was to show that there is a thing called The Tesseract and to show the origin story of Chris Evans‘ Captain America, who was frozen in ice for 60 years.

A still from Captain America: The First Avenger | Credits: Marvel Studios

Only the opening and the closing shots of the film are set in the present, when they discover Steve Rogers’ body in the beginning, and how he wakes up in a hospital in the bustling center of New York.

The remaining movie is set in the 1940s during World War II, when Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers joins the army and becomes a part of the Super Soldier programme. However, according to former Marvel Studios head Avi Arad, it wasn’t the plan.

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In an interview back in 2006 with the Associated Press (via Superhero Hype), Avi Arad had said that the original script of Captain America: The First Avenger followed both the past and the present simultaneously.

Without giving too much away, obviously, there’ll be a little bit of the origin, and then we come into our real world. What makes Captain America such a compelling character is that it allows you to judge history, so you see where he came from and you see what he stood for.

He continued,

One of the things our movie is going to deal with is what happened in 60 years. Which world was better? Sixty years ago or now? Within, obviously, a kick-ass plot and all the stuff that you’ve come to expect from a superhero movie.

Well, we know that the script was changed completely, and the 2011 film only focused on the origin story of Captain America and how he became The First Avenger.

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However, the original script wasn’t completely a waste since some of the concepts were used in the sequel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The subtle nods and references to present things were simply too emotional to ignore about how much Rogers had to adapt to the changing world.

Chris Evans talked about Captain America’s adjustment

Marvel Studios was indeed right in their choice since iconic star Chris Evans knew the character of Captain America better than anyone else. The subtle references where Cap keeps a note on things he needs to know for the present was just too damn cute.

A still from Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Credits: Marvel Studios

In an interview with Collider, Evans talked about the things that Cap had to go through to acclimate to the modern world. The actor talked about how he had to portray that change in the 2014 movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

I think it was a lot easier in the 40s to know who the evil was. [laughs] There’s no disputing Nazis are bad. [laughs] Now it becomes a little bit more difficult to answer. There’s more of a gray area.

He continued,

That’s where it becomes a tricky dispute for Cap, because things were just done differently in the 40s, and threats are different now, precautionary measures that are taken now are somewhat questionable and can be suspect in his eyes, so it’s a tough hurdle for him to jump.

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And that was what the movie was all about, since the world comes to know that HYDRA had been serving right under the noses of S.H.I.E.L.D. all along, and Cap had no choice but to interfere.

The iconic film was so well-received that it currently stands at a rating of 7.7/10 on IMDb and a whopping 90% on Rotten Tomatoes! It is considered one of the finest MCU movies of all time.

Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain America: The Winter Soldier are currently available to stream on Disney+ (USA).
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