Doing it Better: Captain America

Doing it Better Captain America

Part one Captain America: Super Soldier

Awesome across many generations.

                The biggest issue with this film was the pace. The beginning was very good at setting up Steven Rogers as the kind of Patriot that only the 40s could produce, and the ending was great at highlighting the most heroic aspects of the Captain, particularly his ability to sacrifice his own desires for the betterment of mankind. The middle, however, is very rushed. After the Howling Commandos are formed, most of the action scenes before the capture of HYDRA Scientist Arnim Zola is in a montage. Montages are fine, but I felt it was a disservice to Captain America to limit most of his acts of Heroism into one long montage.

                Before I get into the bulk of this post, I just want to note that for most of these “Doing it Better,” posts we will be leaving this reality. We’ll be entering an idealized world where contracts never expire, every movie is huge in the box office, all parts are perfectly cast, all the rights are owned by the appropriate studios, and actors are given big novelty checks with the infinity symbol printed on them. In short, perfect.

                So, in my opinion the best way to improve this movie would be to split it into two parts. Part one would be moved out in front of Iron-man. It probably wouldn’t have been as big of a hit as Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron-man but again, my ideal world where everything is awesome.

Not everyone can make purple scary.

Additionally, I would be adding two characters to the film, one to allow for two films, and another because my inner nerd demands it. Said character is Baron Heinrich Zemo. Zemo, for those who don’t know, is a high ranking member of HYDRA, a lieutenant of the Red Skull who often serves as HYDRA’s leader in the Skull’s absence. Like Red Skull, Zemo suffers from a facial deformity. In the comics he often wore a baggy purple mask due to his notoriety among the local populace. Crimes against humanity have a tendency to cause that. In a fight with Captain America, he was doused with Adhesive X, a chemical compound he’d developed which fused the fabric with his face. In many ways he’s the Captain’s #2 villain, forming the first iteration of the Masters of Evil (the Avengers’ evil counterpart), creating Wonder Man an immensely powerful foe and later ally of the Avenger’s, and so on.

Awesome x 2 + Bucky

I’ll keep Wolverine’s part short. He’d be in it because 1. He served with the Howling Commandos, 2. He’s Cap’s oldest friend chronologically, and 3. Because Captain America and Wolverine taking out HYDRA Nazis would be epic. He wouldn’t be anything like a second protagonist, but he’d have a larger part then a cameo.

The first film would focus on the first half of the existing Captain America. The key difference would be splicing Zemo into scenes alongside Skull and Zola. We’d devote some time to painting Zemo as a Starscream to Red Skull’s Megatron. Not that ever other line he spouted would be about how he’ll kill and replace Skull, but make it clear that he’s kept on a short leash. During the scene when Skull breaks away from the Nazi party, for example, have the Tesseract cannon overload or something keeping it from destroying the last Nazi officer. He could make it out of the room, bump into a masked Zemo, and have him slash the young Nazi’s throat without a second thought or provocation. Zemo would then meet with the Skull and make a crack like, “Herr Schmitt, it is better to not put all your trust in one weapon.” 

The major differences would only begin to shine through when the Captain is saving the 501^st from the HYDRA camp. In the original the camp was a factory designing Tesseract energy weapons, in my version it would be a HYDRA research facility. This ties into my second problem with the film, HYDRA’s focus on the Tesseract weapons. HYDRA at any given moment has at least a dozen WMD’s in the works, never just one. So, part of this scene would focus on Captain America freeing the prisoners, including Wolverine and Bucky, the other exploring the various assortment of HYDRA weapons in the works. We’d still see

Doughboy, gross and largely invincible.
Example of alternate HYDRA research

Tesseract weapons, but I think just about everyone save the energy rifles would still be prototypes.

The scene where Captain America and Wolverine met would be relatively short. Perhaps just Cap finding the most secured prison cell in the base, talking with Logan in a conversation along the lines of “You want pay back?” Wolverine snarls, “I’ll take that as a yes,” and letting the caged beast go.

After freeing Bucky the two films would be more or less the same, just adding Zemo. After that we’d see Captain America and his Howling Commandos, all named and with personalities, destroying two HYDRA facilities. We’d see Captain America bond with his teammates, and what lengths HYDRA is willing to go to in the name of global conquest.

The finale would take place onboard the HYDRA train, but instead of battling the HYDRA flamethrower soldier, he’d be duking it out with Zemo. Up to this point Zemo would have been a lot of talk and only just enough action to make it clear he’s a sadist. Cap would perhaps underestimate Zemo, until he pulled out his saber and started slashing. Bucky and Cap would battle with Zemo throughout the train, ending in a train compartment with Zemo’s Adhesive X trailer.

Kind of amazing he didn't die from this.

Bucky would still be thrown off with a grenade or something. This would send Cap into a fury and have him beat the piss out of Zemo. Wolverine or Dugan would come in before Cap finished the job. As they leave Zemo would try to pull a behind the back stab, but Cap knocks him aside. Zemo’s blade would shatter the Adhesive X container and get dosed in it. The film would close out on Zola being brought into a cell and Cap and Agent Carter in the bar.

Tragic.

The ending would be a bit depressing and darker than what some might expect but it would allow for a lot of personal growth with Cap. My thought is that movie part 2 would be focused on Cap trying to keep going even though knowing his best friend died because of him. I’ll get into greater detail in the part two, which will come in just before I do the Avengers.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Zemo

 http://www.wolverinefiles.com/009-world-war-ii/

 http://avengersearthsmightiestheroes.wikia.com/wiki/Baron_Zemo

 http://marvel.wikia.com/Doughboy_%28Earth-616%29

 http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/ironnutsville/news/?a=18804

 http://marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Winter_Soldier