48 Fun Facts About Captain America: the First Avenger

Who directed Captain America: The First Avenger?

Joe Johnston. Marvel turned down Louis Leterrier, the director of its Incredible Hulk, when he asked for the job, and signed Johnston in November 2008.

In The First Avenger, where does Steve Rogers finally tell Dr. Erskine he is really from?

Brooklyn. Erskine has caught him lying on five enlistment forms in five cities, and says it is the five tries that interest him, not the failed exams.

Which studio distributed Captain America: The First Avenger on its release in 2011?

Paramount Pictures. It was the last Marvel film the studio released: Disney, Marvel's owner since 2009, had already bought out the next ones and took over this film's rights in 2013.

Who plays Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull, in The First Avenger?

Hugo Weaving. He modelled the villain's accent on director Werner Herzog and actor Klaus Maria Brandauer, and wore a latex mask that effects artists then slimmed down, taking away his nose.

What relic does Johann Schmidt steal at the start of The First Avenger?

The Tesseract. It is the films' version of the comics' Cosmic Cube, and later films revealed that the glowing box holds one of the six Infinity Stones the whole saga turns on.

In The First Avenger, Johann Schmidt seizes a relic hidden in a church in which German-occupied country?

Norway. The church stands in Tønsberg, a real coastal town regarded as the country's oldest; David Bradley plays the keeper, whom Schmidt has killed once the relic is found.

Who plays Dr. Abraham Erskine in The First Avenger?

Stanley Tucci. He said the draw was the chance to play an elderly German scientist with an accent, something he had long wanted to try.

In The First Avenger, what does Steve Rogers do that convinces Colonel Phillips he is the right candidate?

Jumps on a grenade. Phillips lobs a dummy among the recruits to prove that wars are won with guts; the others scatter while the smallest man throws himself on it.

Who plays the young Howard Stark in The First Avenger?

Dominic Cooper. The story is set decades before Iron Man 2, in which John Slattery had played Tony Stark's father as an older man, so a younger actor took the part.

In The First Avenger, how does the assassin Heinz Kruger avoid interrogation?

Takes a cyanide capsule. Rogers, minutes after his transformation, runs down Kruger's car on foot and hauls him out of a submarine, only for the spy to bite the pill and die.

In The First Avenger, what does Senator Brandt have Steve Rogers do once the serum is lost?

Tour selling war bonds. Rogers becomes a costumed stage mascot called Captain America, because Colonel Phillips would rather leave him behind as a lab specimen than send him to fight.

In The First Avenger, Steve Rogers' round shield is made of which rare metal?

Vibranium. Howard Stark hands Rogers the shield after the rescue mission; in the Black Panther stories the same metal is mined only in Wakanda and is the root of its power.

What is the squad Steve Rogers forms from freed prisoners in The First Avenger called?

The Howling Commandos. One of the writers said the name is in the script "but no one says that out loud"; the squad comes from a Marvel war comic of the 1960s.

Who plays Bucky Barnes in The First Avenger?

Sebastian Stan. He had first been in the running to play Captain America himself, and Marvel cast him as Bucky with the character's later return as the Winter Soldier already in mind.

Which war series did the actor playing Bucky Barnes call "very helpful" in preparing for The First Avenger?

Band of Brothers. He knew nothing about the comics when he auditioned, so he studied the series and wartime documentaries to learn how soldiers of the 1940s carried themselves.

Who plays Peggy Carter in The First Avenger?

Hayley Atwell. She won the part over Keira Knightley, Alice Eve and Emily Blunt, then trained six days a week to be convincing as a soldier.

The actress playing Peggy Carter in The First Avenger likened her to a famous line about which dancer?

Ginger Rogers. The line says she did everything Fred Astaire did, "backwards and in high heels"; the actress said Carter does the same alongside Captain America.

In The First Avenger, how does Bucky Barnes apparently die in 1945?

Falls from a train. It happens on the raid that captures Arnim Zola, whose earlier experiments on the captive Bucky let him survive the drop and return as the Winter Soldier.

In The First Avenger, what tips Steve Rogers off that his 1940s hospital room is fake?

A radio replay of a 1941 ballgame. Rogers had been in the stands that day, so he knows the broadcast is a recording, and he breaks out of the set into present-day Times Square.

In The First Avenger, who tells Steve Rogers he has slept almost 70 years?

Nick Fury. The S.H.I.E.L.D. director explains that the fake 1940s room was meant to break the news slowly, and the scene closes on Rogers's reply: he had a date.

Chris Evans, star of The First Avenger, had earlier played which Marvel hero?

The Human Torch. Evans played him in Fantastic Four in 2005, and The First Avenger hides another: a display case at its Stark Expo shows the original Human Torch, an android hero of 1940s comics.

The First Avenger's star said which feeling made him refuse the role three times?

Fear. He said no three times before signing a six-film deal, and later admitted his decision-making had been fear-based: he was "almost too chicken to play Captain America."

How was skinny, pre-serum Steve Rogers mostly created for The First Avenger?

Digital shrinking. Effects house Lola slimmed the lead actor in every dimension, so each skinny scene had to be shot at least four times; a body double was the backup.

Which writing duo was hired in late 2008 to rewrite the script of The First Avenger?

Markus and McFeely. Hired a week after the director, the pair went on to write both Captain America sequels and the two-part finale of Marvel's Infinity Saga.

In The First Avenger, the Red Skull leads which Nazi science division turned rogue army?

Hydra. It begins as Hitler's research division, but the Red Skull soon breaks with him, saying Hydra can grow no further in his shadow.

Where does Steve Rogers crash the Red Skull's bomber at the end of The First Avenger?

The Arctic. Rogers puts the plane down in the ice to keep its bombs from reaching New York, saying goodbye to Peggy Carter as he dives.

Which English city's Northern Quarter was dressed as 1940s New York for The First Avenger?

Manchester. Its streets stood in for Manhattan's Lower East Side, as did Liverpool's Stanley Dock, so much of the film's New York is really the north of England.

In The First Avenger, the Red Skull's giant coupe was modelled mainly on two 1930s cars from which German carmaker?

Mercedes-Benz. Designer Daniel Simon, fresh from Tron: Legacy, blended the 540K roadster with the three-axle G4, the parade car of Nazi leaders, to make a car fit for a tyrant.

Who composed The First Avenger's score?

Alan Silvestri. The Back to the Future composer was hired under five months before release, and Marvel later brought him back to score the two-part finale of its Infinity Saga.

Who wrote the music for "Star Spangled Man", the USO song in The First Avenger?

Alan Menken. The Disney composer of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin wrote it with lyricist David Zippel as a wartime show tune for a chorus line to sing around Captain America.

In The First Avenger, Dr. Erskine tells Steve Rogers that "a weak man knows the value of" what?

Strength. Erskine explains that the serum amplifies whatever is inside a person, so "good becomes great; bad becomes worse," which is why he chose a small man over a strong one.

In The First Avenger, what does Howard Stark show off on stage at the 1943 expo?

A flying car. Stark's "gravitic reversion" prototype hovers above the stage for a moment and then fails, though the crowd is impressed anyway.

What does Stan Lee play in his cameo in The First Avenger?

A general. Sitting in the audience at a medal ceremony that Rogers skips, he sees another man walk on stage in the hero's place and remarks, "I thought he'd be taller."

Which future Doctor Who companion plays Bucky's date Connie in The First Avenger?

Jenna Coleman. Credited as Jenna-Louise Coleman, she had a small part at the Stark Expo; within a year of the film's release she was named the Doctor's new companion.

Stan Lee did not create Captain America: Joe Simon and which artist did, in 1941?

Jack Kirby. He drew and Joe Simon wrote the first issue in March 1941, months before America entered the war; Simon's later copyright fight with Marvel stalled the film until 2003.

Marvel funded The First Avenger with a 2005 loan secured against what?

Its film rights. Merrill Lynch put up $525 million against the movie rights to ten characters, Captain America among them, so Marvel staked its heroes rather than its own cash.

Which director wanted to make Captain America as a comedy in the mid-2000s before taking on another Marvel hero instead?

Jon Favreau. He saw "a lot of comedic possibilities" in a soldier frozen in the 1940s and thawed out today, but directed Iron Man instead, the film that launched Marvel's shared universe.

In The First Avenger, Captain America rides a customised wartime motorcycle from which American maker?

Harley-Davidson. The bike is a 1942 WLA, the army model known as the Liberator, fitted with extras by Howard Stark, and the company signed on as a promotional partner of the film.

Which doughnut chain ran a national search for heroes among veterans and troops to promote The First Avenger?

Dunkin' Donuts. With its sister chain Baskin-Robbins it asked the public to nominate veterans and serving troops who were making a difference at home, in the spirit of the film's hero.

What was Sega's 2011 video game tie-in to The First Avenger called?

Captain America: Super Soldier. Set during the events of the film, it borrowed its brawling from the Batman: Arkham games; Sentinel of Liberty was the separate mobile game.

Where in Hollywood was the world premiere of The First Avenger held in July 2011?

El Capitan Theatre. The aptly named movie palace belongs to Disney, which had already bought Marvel, even though a rival studio was still releasing this film.

Which of these countries released The First Avenger without "Captain America" in its title?

Russia. Ukraine and South Korea did the same; the studios gave no reason, but insiders said it was cultural and political as well as commercial.

In The First Avenger, what happens to the Red Skull when he grabs the stolen relic?

He vanishes into space. The relic opens a portal that pulls him away, and later films reveal he was carried to the planet Vormir to stand guard over the Soul Stone.

Which 2011 superhero film narrowly beat The First Avenger's opening weekend?

Thor. Marvel's other 2011 release opened to $65.7 million against Captain America's $65.1 million, with pricier 3D tickets supplying 60 percent of Thor's opening.

The short film on The First Avenger's home release shows which Marvel agent foiling a gas station robbery?

Phil Coulson. Clark Gregg's agent stops to buy snacks on the drive to New Mexico and calmly takes down two armed robbers, all in a four-minute short packed with the Blu-ray.

As his plane goes down in The First Avenger, Steve Rogers makes a date with Peggy Carter at which New York nightclub?

The Stork Club. Carter tells him eight o'clock on the dot, a week from Saturday; he never arrives, and decades later the closing scene ends on his line "I had a date."

Which actor plays Dum Dum Dugan in The First Avenger?

Neal McDonough. He grew Dugan's trademark moustache himself and wore the bowler hat, then returned to the part in Marvel's Agent Carter short film.

The director of The First Avenger had done effects work on which adventure film, a model for its tone?

Raiders of the Lost Ark. He shared its visual-effects Oscar, and Marvel studied the film because, though set in the 1930s, it never plays like a period piece.