The Hollywood Reporter‘s Heat Vision Blog is reporting that John Krasinksi is among the short list of actors currently screen testing for the role of Captain America in Marvel Studio’s upcoming superhero film of the same name (technically, the film is called The First Avenger: Captain America but I seriously hope they change that unwieldy title by the time the film is released) .
Krasinksi, star of The Office, is joined on the list by Michael Cassidy (Smallville), Patrick Flueger (The 4400), Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights), Wilson Bethel (Generation Kill) and Mike Vogel (Cloverfield).
Other actors who Marvel was interested but couldn’t work through scheduling conflicts and screen test include Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl), Garret Hedlund (Tron Legacy) and Jensen Ackles (Supernatural).
Marvel is reportedly concentrating its search on only American actors.
The Buzz: I’ve got to say that while John Krasinksi (who Cinematical claims is the frontrunner) would not be my first choice for Captain America, I could live with the decision — especially in light of the rumors floating around last year that Will Smith was in talks for the role.
While I have no problem changing the ethnicity of an established comic book character in order to bring on a talented actor, turning Captain America into a black man would open up a whole can of worms about race relations in the ’40s and whether or not a black man could have truly been heralded as a symbol of his country in the pre-civil rights era. While Marvel Comics dealt with this issue in their mini-series Truth: Red, White & Black — it would have taken up a lot of time in the movie that could have been spent on Captain America pounding in the faces of Nazis.
Personally, out of all the names floated above, I have to say that Jensen Ackles would be my top pick for Captain America. As fans of the television series Supernatural know, Ackles is a mighty fine actor — able to pull off action scenes, dramatic roles and comedy. Plus, he’s oozing with charisma. If Ackles can’t be cast in Captain America, can he pretty, pretty please be cast as Hawkeye in the upcoming Avengers film?
Sound off: Who would you like to see wield the shield in the Captain America film?
