Captain America Will Be Cast Soon, Is Iron Man 2 A Hulk Prequel?

Two bits of Marvel news tonight: Director Joe Johnston, who's helming the upcoming The First Avenger: Captain America, recently told Sci Fi Wire that they need to cast the Cap soon,  "We have a very short list, but we're still juggling actors here. I'd say within the next couple of weeks we'll have ourselves a Captain America, I hope." The film is "fairly early" in preproduction, and shooting isn't expected to start until the end of June. I wouldn't be surprised if we start to catch wind of this short list sometime soon. I recommend any of you with an investment in this franchise to start prepping for the fanboy/fangirl fury.

In other news, Jon Favreau was recently asked by a fan on Twitter if Iron Man 2 took place before or after 2008's The Incredible Hulk. Favreau simply responded, "before." Yes, I'm about to launch into an analysis of what a single word means to several films — something which Favreau could have said just to mess with a well-meaning Twitter fan — please bear with me.

As our friends at Empire mention, the statement adds some extra weight to the final scene in The Incredible Hulk, wherein Tony Stark recruits General Ross to join the Avengers Initiative. The logical assumption was that the scene took place before Iron Man 2. But if Favreau's comment is true, it points to an Avengers film featuring Stark, Captain America, Nick Fury, and Thor hunting down the fugitive Hulk.

I suppose we won't know what he really means until we see Iron Man 2, but after so many have talked about this potential plot for the Avengers film since last summer, I'd like to finally see it happen. If it does, I just hope that they bring back Edward Norton — who notoriously took issue with the action-heavy cut of the film.