Rumor: Will Smith Offered Captain America

Posted on Monday, September 8th, 2008 by Hunter Stephenson

UPDATE: So, Harry Knowles says there is no truth to the rumor. Ohlalala. I do think Luke’s quote is trivial, but we’ll see…

Not much to go on, but during an interview with MTV, actor Derek Luke (Miracle at St. Anna) said that “[Marvel] offered Will Smith Captain America” and added that “it just shows you how times have changed.” Other actors recently rumored for the Marvel character include Matthew McConaughey (thankfully, not happening) and Brad Pitt (who’s also been mentioned for Thor).

Entitled The First Avenger: Captain America and set for a May 6th, 2011 release—just weeks before The Avengers—Marvel Studios President of Production, Kevin Feige, confirmed over the summer that the film will be a WWII period epic. On a recent /Filmcast, I was the only one who thought this movie would not underperform at the box office, believing it possessed similar potential to Iron Man. And compared to Superman—a character that’s even more alien in the context of today’s blockbusters and trendy manchild masculinity—Captain America seems like a smarter cinematic outlet to address the current political climate and state of the nation for a wide audience.

As for Smith in the role, I think it could work. He has the iconic stature down, and is generally seen as an all-American everyman a la Tom Hanks. Of course, this is where I’m supposed to blabber on about race and if it would be accepted by the mainstream, but personally, I think it’s lame and pointless to do so. “It just shows you how times have changed.” Maybe if you’re 30+, but I disagree with that statement per casting a film like this. I grew up watching this dude on TV after school (I’m not doing the theme song, don’t worry). Smith is one of the most successful actors of all time, why would he not be up for the part? Because it’s not Black Panther or a Green Lantern or Blade or an alcoholic superhero who flies? Laughable.

Discuss: Will Smith for Captain America (not just Isaiah Bradley)? Some commenters are equating the hypothetical casting to reeinvisionist history. Agree? And Clint Eastwood and Spike Lee, please sit out on this comment sesh, thanks.

To the reader who emailed me, no, I do not think my laughing at Candyman being recast as a white guy is hypocritical. Ha. Candyman was the son of a slave who was tortured for his relations with the white daughter of a plantation owner. Different.

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  • Aaron
    I like it!
  • Steelo
    Considering the "Truth" series Marvel ran it's possible.
  • Mark
    Come on, Will Smith is NOT Captain America nor will he ever be. Even for a rumor that's just ridiculous.
  • Will Smith as Captain America? P'shaw!! I don't see that working. It isn't about "how far we've come" or "how things have changed". A big part of what Captain America stands for is America during WWII. He's the hero the country needed...everything good and wholesome and wonderful about the United States circa 1942-1945. If it's a period piece, how could he be black? I'm just being honest....it wouldn't work.
  • Caroline
    My only problem with this is that Capt. America is in his late teens/early 20's during WWII... and NONE of the prospective actors have fit the bill for that. Annoying. Though I do like Smith best out of all the names mentioned so far.
  • Canasian
    This has nothing to do with race, it has to do with the character, Captain America himself. Will Smith is one of my favorite actors and a seemingly all around great guy. But the thing is, the image of Captain America has been the same since it's creation (for the most part). They tried a similar thing with Catwoman, and it didn't work on a whole bunch of levels. But success depends of staying true to the character who has had a life of ~70 years.
  • Ghost
    Definitely would work for TRUTH, but not as THE Steve Rogers.
  • Steelo
    so black people weren't "good and wholesome and wonderful about the United States circa 1942-1945":

    P'shaw!!
  • Steelo
    I'll go with the Steve Rogers bit though
  • BobMikki
    @Mark
    There was actually a black captain america in the comics
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_Bradley
  • @Steelo - do you think our government would have put a black man on posters and made him the face for the United States during the early to mid 40's? I don't think so. That statement has nothing to do with my personal feelings....I'm just being honest. If you think otherwise you know little to nothing about the history of race in the US.
  • sideshowRaheem
    Why, just why? First off in the comicbook Captin America was almost a tool of US goverment propaganda in the 1940's and the last time I checked black men in that time period really were not being treated to good by our government so why would they inject one with something that would give them super human ablities. I can buy chaning the race of Nick Fury but not Captin America.
  • KeanE
    Vin Diesel for Captain America

    jus playin

    Will Smith would be cool, if it did happen it would be defiantly be interesting...regardless I cant wait for this to come out, I still remember seeing the 1980"s Captain America movie (just dont remember if it was good or not), I just cant wait to see it during WWII, good change of scenery...
  • Steelo
    @ Vlad

    I'm just giving you s**t because it's funny.
    Apparently it worked. HA!
  • Steelo
    also @ Vlad

    I could get into the particulars of what I "know about this country" also.
    But this is a movie board. I like talking about movies.
  • Max
    NO NO NO!!! WILL SMITH IS A VERY GOOD ACTOR BUT HE IS NOT CAPTAIN AMERICA!! I WON'T ALLOW THIS!!!
  • Gerry Putler
    Smith wouldn't work in the context of WWII. In the 40's racism in America was still very much active abd publicly exercised. Doubt the US military would have injected a black man to essentially make him one of the strongest people on the planet. Like I said, least not in the 40's.

    Blacks, asians, hspanics were largely viewed as cannon fodder.
  • J. Luna
    Yeah I could see him as the Cap too. It could work. But a part of me says that when I go to the movies on that day, I'm going to end up watching Will smith playing Will Smith, and NOT Will Smith as Steve Rogers... You are right about one thing though. The casting shouldn't be based on looks, but more so on who captures the essence of the character. We'll see, I guess.
  • orange cinema
    i love will smith, but i can hear his voice shouting orders as he valiantly leads men into battle, i can feel the look of defeat on his face as situations around him get out of control, and i can see his stoic face as he slips into cap's more solemn moments. this is too easy of a casting, and a predictable performance would follow. like i said, i love smith, but i don't like him for the part.
  • orange cinema
    oh, and captain america is not a black guy, and neither is nick fury. i'm sorry, those aren't the comic books i've pumped money into for two decades.
  • Nah, not really into it.
  • J. Luna
    ...also Vlad has some very good points. At the end the question is weather or not the Captain america they want to put on screen is the one we know. A black Cap would certainly work. But definitely not as the Steve Rogers incarnation.
  • YoungZe
    A dark and gritty Captain America would be awesome. A black and hippy Captain America would be fail. I'm not sure if the non-comic fans are ready for something like this.

    @Gerry Putler:

    You haven't read Captain America: Truth have you? Black people where the first one to try the super soldier serum since it was still in the test phase. They die, okay, next one. It fits perfectly. Remember The Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
  • anthony
    Thank you.
    During the 1930's-40 human testing was done on all blacks in that they were seen as inferior and unintelligent etc.
  • Travis Mcgee
    I think this is a bad choice. Captain America should be a young white male with blond hair. I'm still confused with why they want Brad Pitt for the role, he is much to old. They should cast a talented young unknown for the role. That would also help keep down the cost of making an Avengers film. Think of the salaries of the cast if they did hire a superstar for Cap or Thor? That would be at least a quarter of your budget.

    I think Smith could make a great superhero, and I still don't know why he hasn't been tapped for Black Panther or Luke Cage. Why hasn't MARVEL started pre-production on one of these films yet? I would LOVE to see Will Smith as the Black Panther and as a member of the Avengers.
  • Lewis
    Vlad,

    "do you think our government would have put a black man on posters and made him the face for the United States during the early to mid 40’s? I don’t think so. That statement has nothing to do with my personal feelings… I’m just being honest. If you think otherwise you know little to nothing about the history of race in the US."

    You need to learn how to write. You come off as a racist fuck even though I don't think you mean to... I'm just being honest....

    Steve Rogers is a joke. Give me Isaiah Bradley any day. His story line would be fantastic and keep with the "real" tone of the modern comic book movie. His story could shine a light on "non-racists" who believe WWII was about "everything good and wholesome and wonderful about the United States circa 1942-1945."

    Just because you disclaim a statement by saying "I'm not a racist..." doesn't mean you're not a racist.

    I hate Will Smith, but not because he's black. I hate him because he's a scientologist. I don't think scientologists even existed in WWII... I'm just being honest. Oh, and I'm not a religious intolerant… I’m just being honest.

    Oh, and Steelo… have some fucking balls, man. It’s the interweb, he can’t hurt you.
  • Brody
    Isnt Will Smith black? Did i miss something? If not this is the worst attempt at casting a superhero I have ever seen, WTF.
  • A Better Class of Criminal
    I like Will Smith, but in all seriousness... Captain America, if set in the 1940's, should be a young blonde white dude. Sorry, but thats just my opinion.
  • Matt
    "Of course, this is where I’m supposed to blabber on about race and if it would be accepted by the mainstream, but personally, I think it’s lame and pointless to do so."
    Hard-on achieved.
    I can definitely see this pulled off very well.
  • Will Smith for Captain America ONLY if he can get DJ Jazzy Jeff on board as Bucky :P
  • Steelo
    @YoungZe

    As much as I would love to believe it Gerry Putler does make a point though. The black Cap would have been the underground guy. Secret ops and not hugely advertised. At the time the Norman Rockwell propaganda was pretty caucasian regardless of who was doing what. If you want to be accurate that's the truth.

    Now as far as movies are concerned I'm just over the Will Smith of things. I'm more concerned with a solid story and execution. If he's gonna be black make the story nice. If he's gonna be white make the story nice.

    In the end the point it moot because it clearly states he was "offered the part" not that he accepted it. I say we move on.
  • Steelo
    Whatever Lewis. You don't know me either
  • YoungZe
    @Steelo: I don't remember Captain America: Truth so good anymore, i think he was an underground agent. Black Ops stuff. After he served in the War he was put in jail.

    You know what i would love to see? I don't remember the issue or the volume anymore but i do remember the scene where the Red Skull told Captain America that he was Hitler's son (not like a son son but a son son). That the super soldier serum was a project from nazi germany. That's why he is blond and has blue eyes (back then it was told as being the best example of Aryan race bla bla bullshit). I always thought that that would be ironic until i saw this issue. Seeing that storyline on a big silver screen would be awesome!
  • edog
    At first blush I'm interested. The story could be fresh and more relevant for today's audiences, even set in WWII.

    I can see the argument that he may be too old for an enlistee, but then in WWII, soldiers were older on average than they are in today's wars.
  • Marvin
    Please no. I love Will Smith in mostly everything he's done, but he doesn't have the persona of Captain America.
  • Mr. B
    Hee. I can see it working.

    I think it depends on how Marvel wants to take the story. Imagine that while all of the Posters and propaganda reels of Captain America in WWII were telling a lie (stand ins and such), that the real person was secretly black. It then becomes a story about racism at the time and a man's struggle to fight for a country that is biased against him.

    It would also add to the culture shock of Captain when he arrives in the future. He would have missed the Civil Rights movement and everything.

    He's a character so whoever owns the rights to him can write him how they want. Regardless of how outraged the purist get (like Huey Freeman's "Adventures of Black Jesus" but better).
  • Sam
    Wait isnt Brody a ignorant jack-ass? Did I miss something? If not this is the worst and stupident comment you can make, welcome to the year 2008 punk ass.

    Will Smith, Captain America, I say lets do it. Look at Sam Jack as Nick Fury, hes a good fit. I guess well see in 2 to 3 years.
  • Jack M.
    i'll take the job if they're just pullin names out of a hat
  • Like I commented before, Will Smith can do anything, so therefore he can do Captain America.
  • Ev
    It works. I'd buy it.
  • Gart, Bo
    As long as will smith doesn't turn capt. america into will smith, like he does with most his roles, we'll be fine.
  • Hunter is an idiot
    "Smith is one of the most successful actors of all time, why would he not be up for the part?"

    Because he's not suitable for the part, which is the #1 most important reason. Being a good actor doesn't mean you're suitable for every single role in existence. What next? Denzel Washington as George Washington? Kiefer Sutherland as Frederick Douglass?

    "Because it’s not Black Panther or a Green Lantern or Blade or an alcoholic superhero who flies? Laughable."

    Laughable? What I find laughable is the idea that one can slot any actor into the role of a pre-existing character and expect people to cheer, or that the character would somehow make sense as a result. And no, it does not make sense to cast Will Smith as Captain America, anymore than it'd make sense to cast Jackie Chan as Black Panther or Marissa Tomei as Magneto. Will Smith simply does not fit the role. And making Captain America black for the sake of A) Political correctness, and B) for the sake of shamelessly milking off of Will Smith's fame is a gross disservice to the character. Captain America deserves better and so do his fans.
  • Right on.
  • Chris
    I get the iconic part and all, and you have a point, but....eh. Too much feels off bout Smith as Cap. He has this and that as positives, sure, but there feels like too many negatives. Would I watch it in theaters? No, probably not.

    I dig the idea of Pitt more than anyone I have yet to hear of.
  • jimbo stewart
    Expect this rumor to be shot down in a matter of days (I hope).
  • charles
    He just did Hancock. But whatever.
  • filmboy
    most likely will smith will turn it down maybe he will play ayounf nick fury lol also the Ultimate Nick Fury is black i wouldliketo see will smith to play luke cage or black panther
  • ajadoniz
    worst casting ever. And NOT just because he's black.
  • dlb
    come to think of it I would prefer Will Smith over someone like Tom Cruise
  • dlb
    I've seen wild wild west and independence day back to back

    the only difference was that the squirly dude roles were switched
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