Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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Two years after the [[Battle of New York (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Battle of New York]],{{efn|As depicted in ''[[The Avengers (2012 film)|The Avengers]]'' (2012)<ref name="CapTWSSynopsis1" />}} [[Steve Rogers (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Steve Rogers]] works in [[Washington, D.C.]], for the espionage agency [[S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|S.H.I.E.L.D.]], while adjusting to contemporary society. During a mission alongside Agent [[Natasha Romanoff (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Natasha Romanoff]] and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s [[counter-terrorism]] [[S.T.R.I.K.E. (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|S.T.R.I.K.E.]] team led by Agent [[Brock Rumlow (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Brock Rumlow]] to free hostages aboard a S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel from pirates led by [[Georges Batroc (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Georges Batroc]], Rogers discovers Romanoff has another assignment: to extract data from the ship's computers.

Returning to the [[Triskelion (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Triskelion]], S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, Rogers confronts Director [[Nick Fury (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Nick Fury]] and is briefed about Project Insight: three [[Helicarriers (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Helicarriers]] linked to spy satellites, designed to eliminate threats preemptively. Unable to decrypt Romanoff's data, Fury becomes suspicious about Insight and asks senior S.H.I.E.L.D. official and Secretary of Internal Security [[Alexander Pierce (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Alexander Pierce]] to delay the project. On his way to rendezvous with [[Maria Hill (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Maria Hill]], Fury is ambushed by assailants led by an assassin called the Winter Soldier. Escaping to Rogers' apartment, Fury warns him that S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised but is shot by the Winter Soldier before handing Rogers a [[USB flash drive|flash drive]] containing the ship's data. Fury is pronounced dead during surgery, and Hill recovers the body.

Pierce summons Rogers to the Triskelion. When Rogers withholds Fury's information, Pierce brands him a fugitive. Hunted by S.T.R.I.K.E., Rogers meets with Romanoff. Using the data, they discover a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker in New Jersey, where they activate a [[supercomputer]] containing the [[mind uploading|preserved consciousness]] of [[Arnim Zola (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Arnim Zola]]. Zola reveals that after being captured by Rogers during [[World War II]],{{efn|As depicted in ''[[Captain America: The First Avenger]]'' (2011)}} he [[Operation Paperclip|was recruited]] to S.H.I.E.L.D., where he secretly reformed [[Hydra (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Hydra]] within its ranks, sowing global chaos using the Winter Soldier as their primary assassin. The pair narrowly escapes death when a S.H.I.E.L.D. missile destroys the bunker, and they realize that Pierce is Hydra's leader within S.H.I.E.L.D. Rogers and Romanoff enlist the help of [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|VA]] employee and former [[United States Air Force Pararescue|USAF pararescueman]] [[Sam Wilson (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Sam Wilson]], whom Rogers befriended, and acquire a powered "[[EXO-7 Falcon|Falcon]]" [[Wingsuit flying|wingpack]] used by Wilson while he was in the Air Force.

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{{quote box|align=right|width=33%|quote=We hired our directors on ''Cap'' because they loved our explanation that we really want to make a '70s [[political thriller]] masquerading as a big superhero movie. Just like with [[Captain America: The First Avenger|the first film]]—we got [[Joe Johnston]] because we said, "We want to do a '40s [[World War II]] movie masquerading as a big superhero movie." I love that we're doing a sequel to a film that's a completely different genre than the first film. I think that's fun. And the comics do it all the time.|source=—Kevin Feige, producer of ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier''<ref name="SFX" />}}

In April 2011, before ''[[Captain America: The First Avenger]]'' was released in theaters, screenwriters [[Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely]] announced that Marvel had already hired the duo to work on the film's sequel.<ref name="MTV" /> In September 2011, [[Chris Evans (actor)|Chris Evans]], who portrayed [[Steve Rogers (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Steve Rogers / Captain America]] in ''The First Avengers'', said that a sequel to that film might not be released until 2014.<ref name="IndieWire" /> In January 2012, [[Neal McDonough]], who played [[Dum Dum Dugan (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Dum Dum Dugan]] in ''The First Avenger'', mentioned that a sequel would likely be filmed after the completion of ''[[Thor: The Dark World]]'' (2013), which would likely have been before the end of 2012.<ref name="McDonough" /> By March 2012, Marvel whittled down the possible directors for the sequel to three candidates: [[George Nolfi]], [[F. Gary Gray]], and brothers [[Russo brothers|Anthony and Joseph Russo]].<ref name="NYMag" /> [[Walt Disney Studios (production)|Walt Disney Studios]] announced the planned release of the sequel to ''The First Avenger'' on April 4, 2014. Disney said, "The second installment will pick-up where ... ''[[The Avengers (2012 film)|The Avengers]]'' (2012) leaves off, as Steve Rogers continues his affiliation with [[Nick Fury (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Nick Fury]] and [[S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|S.H.I.E.L.D.]] and struggles to embrace his role in the modern world."<ref name="LATimes" /> Markus later elaborated, "I think S.H.I.E.L.D. is the water [Rogers is] swimming in. It's definitely a [[Captain America]] movie. You know, if the first movie was a movie about the US Army, then this is a movie about S.H.I.E.L.D... You will learn about S.H.I.E.L.D. You will learn about where it came from and where it's going and some of the cool things they have."<ref name="IGNMar2014pg3" /> In April, F. Gary Gray withdrew his name from consideration, choosing instead to direct the [[N.W.A]] biographical film ''[[Straight Outta Compton (2015 film)|Straight Outta Compton]]'' (2015).<ref name="Deadline" />

==== Writing ====

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The writers felt this approach was similar to how [[Stan Lee]] reinvented Captain America in the [[1960s]] and [[1970s]], with "the Captain dealing with all sorts of the same things that the country [was] dealing with—[[Vietnam War|Vietnam]], [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]] and all that stuff—so he gets to have opinions on that", thus making the "guy who is ostensibly from the more black and white 1940s react to this ultimately grey world that we live in."<ref name="SuperheroHypeMarkusMcFeely" /> Marvel Studios president [[Kevin Feige]] described the film as a [[political thriller]],<ref name="Variety" /> and as the duo struggled to figure out a third act, Feige suggested that S.H.I.E.L.D. be brought down and have Captain America fight the agency. The writers thought this was a great story point, for implementing "the physical manifestation of Cap changing the world."<ref name="DenWriters" /> Markus even noted how the 1970s comics had similar conspiracies.<ref name="SFXAug2014" /> The Hydra reveal made sure to include returning characters among the undercover villains, as well as references to the comics such as Zola being kept alive as a machine.<ref name="Vulture" /> Feige later elaborated on the political thriller nature of the film saying, <blockquote>In our attempt to make all of our films feel unique and feel different we found ourselves going back to things like [''Three Days of the Condor'']. Also the other political thrillers of the '70s: ''The Parallax View'', ''[[All the President's Men (film)|All the President's Men]]'' (1976). This was a time that Cap existed in the comics. He found himself in the swinging '60s followed by the [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]] Era followed by the [[Reagan Era]] followed by where we are today. In the comics it was a hell of a journey for Steve. And we couldn't take him through those years because in our cinematic universe he was asleep. But we wanted to force him to confront that kind of moral conundrum, something with that '70s flavor. And in our film that takes the form of S.H.I.E.L.D.<ref name="Empire" /></blockquote>

Feige said that Steve Rogers would be paired with other characters from ''The Avengers'' like [[Natasha Romanoff (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow]] and Nick Fury, because unlike [[Tony Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Tony Stark]] and [[Thor (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Thor]], who could return to their own supporting casts, Rogers had nowhere else to go, "and it just made sense that he was the one that stayed with what remains of the Avengers at the end of the film."<ref name="MTV3" /> The writers considered including [[Clint Barton (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Clint Barton / Hawkeye]],–who butwas played by [[Jeremy Renner]] in ''[[Thor (film)|Thor]]'' (2011) and '' The Avengers''–but "he didn't have enough to do and suddenly it seemed like we were giving him short shrift", leading all of his parts to be fulfilled by Black Widow,<ref name="SFXAug2014" /> and Joe Russo added that [[Jeremy Renner]]'s schedule could not be worked out for him to appear.<ref name="RussoHawkeye" /> As to why [[Red Skull (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Johann Schmidt / Red Skull]] from ''The First Avenger'' did not appear in ''The Winter Soldier'', Joe Russo explained, "I know we have a guy in a computer, but the tone we were chasing was sort of that conspiracy thriller. And we wanted to try and ground the movie as much as we could. And Red Skull, he's a fantastical character and didn't necessarily fit for ''Cap 2'' and especially because it was about the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. Certainly [[Hydra (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Hydra]] exists and that's his legacy, but there's something interesting about the fact that his legacy outlived the skull. And they're still dealing with the demons of it, but not necessarily him."<ref name="RedSkull" /> [[Chris McKenna (writer)|Chris McKenna]], who worked with the Russo brothers on the [[sitcom]] ''[[Community (TV series)|Community]]'' (2009–2014), contributed to the script by writing jokes for the film.<ref name="McKenna" /> The inclusion of the passage "[[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] 25:17" on Fury's tombstone references the character [[Jules Winnfield]], from the 1994 film ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'', also played by [[Samuel L. Jackson]].<ref name="PulpFiction" />

=== Pre-production ===

{{quote box|align=left|width=33%|quote=It's hard to make a political film that's not topical. That's what makes a political thriller different from just a thriller. And that's what adds to the characters' paranoia and the audience's experience of that paranoia. But we're also very pop-culture-obsessed and we love topicality, so we kept pushing to [have] scenes that, fortunately or unfortunately, played out <nowiki>[</nowiki>during the time that Edward<nowiki>]</nowiki><!-- closing bracket of unspoken phrase --> [[Edward Snowden|Snowden]] outed the [[National Security Agency|NSA]]. That stuff was already in the zeitgeist. We were all reading the articles that were coming out questioning [[Unmanned combat air vehicle|drone strikes]], pre-emptive strikes, civil liberties—[[Barack Obama|[Barack] Obama]] talking about who they would kill... We wanted to put all of that into the film because it would be a contrast to [Captain America]'s [[Greatest Generation|greatest-generation]] [way of thinking].|source=—Anthony Russo, co-director of ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier''<ref name="Lovece" />}}

By June 2012, the Russo brothers entered negotiations to direct the sequel,<ref name="Deadline2" /> and Jackson was confirmed to return as S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Nick Fury.<ref name="Jackson" /> Feige sought out the Russos after watching the genre-parodying [[For a Few Paintballs More|season 2 finale of ''Community'']] which Joe directed,<ref name="NYTimes" /><ref name="WashPost" /> and for the additional ideas they brought to the initial story pitch.<ref name="IGNMar2014pg2" /> Joe Russo detailed that since the intent was for a political thriller, "all the great political thrillers have very current issues in them that reflect the anxiety of the audience." Thus, the brothers opted to include references to [[Unmanned combat aerial vehicle|drone warfare]], [[targeted killing]] and [[global surveillance]]. Joe even noted how during [[principal photography]], the issues became more topical due to the disclosure of several [[National Security Agency]] [[Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)|surveillance-related documents]].<ref name="MotherJones" /> At the 2012 [[San Diego Comic-Con]], it was announced that the official title for the sequel was ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', and that the Russo brothers would direct the film.<ref name="Newsarama" /> After signing on to direct, the Russo brothers met with Ed Brubaker to learn more about where the Winter Soldier character came from, his thinking and the themes behind the character.<ref name="IGNMar2014pg4" /> In July 2012, [[Anthony Mackie]] entered negotiations to star as [[Sam Wilson (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Sam Wilson / Falcon]] alongside Evans in the sequel.<ref name="StanMackie" /> At that time, [[Sebastian Stan]] was also confirmed to be reprising his role as [[Bucky Barnes (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier]] from ''The First Avenger'' in the film.<ref name="StanMackie" />

In September 2012, Evans said filming would begin in March 2013.<ref name="Collider" /> He also said that Rogers' adjustment to the modern world, which was originally set to be included in ''The Avengers'', would be better suited for ''The Winter Soldier''.<ref name="Collider2" /> At the end of the month, The Greater Cleveland Film Commission announced that ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' would film in [[Cleveland]], Ohio after the production was approved for a $9.5 million [[tax credit]].<ref name="Cleveland" /> Producer Nate Moore said that after also serving as a location in ''The Avengers'', [[Government of Cleveland|Cleveland's government]] was helpful in providing large locations for filming, which "provided production value which we probably could not have built in a backlot." McFeely joked that while writing ambitious action scenes "I did not realize a great American metropolis would say 'Sure, shut down three miles of freeway and go to town'."<ref name="FrontlineFeaturette" /> Portions of the film were also scheduled to be shot in California and [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name="Cleveland" /><ref name="Washington" /> By October, [[Emilia Clarke]], [[Jessica Brown Findlay]], [[Teresa Palmer]], [[Imogen Poots]], [[Alison Brie]], and [[Mary Elizabeth Winstead]] were being considered for Rogers' love interest in the film,<ref name="Deadline3" /><ref name="WinsteadHolloway">{{Cite web |date=2012-10-14 |title=Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Josh Holloway Up for CAPTAIN AMERICA 2? {{!}} Collider |website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]] |url=http://collider.com/captain-america-2-sequel-mary-elizabeth-winstead/202550/ |access-date=2024-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014151512/http://collider.com/captain-america-2-sequel-mary-elizabeth-winstead/202550/ |archive-date=October 14, 2012 }}</ref> and [[Scarlett Johansson]] was brought back to reprise her role as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow.<ref name="Deadline3" /> Later in the month, [[Frank Grillo]] was testing for the role of [[Brock Rumlow (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Brock Rumlow]] in the film,<ref name="Collider3" /> and by the end of the month, Grillo closed a deal to portray the character and [[Cobie Smulders]] signed on to reprise her role as [[Maria Hill (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Maria Hill]] from ''The Avengers''.<ref name="Grillo" /> [[Nikolaj Coster-Waldau]], [[Josh Holloway]], and [[Kevin Durand]] were also considered for the role of Rumlow.<ref name="WinsteadHolloway" />

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=== Filming ===

[[File:Captain America- The Winter Soldier filming on the Mall.jpg|thumb|Film set for ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' on the [[National Mall]]]]

[[Principal photography]] began on April 1, 2013, at the Raleigh Manhattan Beach Studios in Los Angeles, under the [[working title]] ''Freezer Burn''.<ref name="FilmingBegins" /> Scenes taking place on the ''[[Features of the Marvel Cinematic Universe#Ships|Lemurian Star]]'' were filmed on the ''[[Sea Launch Commander]]'', docked in [[Long Beach, California]].<ref name="FrontlineFeaturette" /> In early May, [[Dominic Cooper]] confirmed he would return to reprise his role as [[Howard Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Howard Stark]] from ''The First Avenger'' in the film.<ref name="Cooper" /> On May 14, 2013, production moved to Washington, D.C., with filming taking place at the [[National Mall]] and the [[Theodore Roosevelt Bridge]].<ref name="NBCWashington" /> The following day, [[Garry Shandling]] was spotted on set reprising his ''[[Iron Man 2]]'' (2010) role of Senator Stern.<ref name="Shandling" /> Other filming locations in Washington, D.C., included the [[Willard Hotel]] and [[Dupont Circle]].<ref name="DCist" /> Filming in Cleveland began on May 17 and was scheduled to last until mid-June with locations scheduled on the [[West Shoreway]], the Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant in [[Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio|Cuyahoga Heights]] and the Lakeview Cemetery Dam.<ref name="Cleveland2" /> Cleveland was chosen as a stand-in for Washington, D.C., with the city's East 6th Street doubling as 7th and D Streets in [[Southwest (Washington, D.C.)|Southwest D.C.]]<ref name="Cleveland3" /> Other locations in Cleveland included the [[Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland]], the [[Cleveland Public Library]], [[Cleveland State University]], the [[Cleveland Arcade]], [[Tower City Center]], the [[Cleveland Museum of Art]], and the [[Western Reserve Historical Society]].<ref name="Cleveland3" /><ref name="Cleveland4" /><ref name="Cleveland5" /><ref name="Cleveland6" /><ref name="Cleveland7" /> Interior shots were also filmed inside private homes and the [[Pilgrim Congregational Church (Cleveland, Ohio)|Pilgrim Congregational Church]] in [[Tremont, Cleveland|Tremont]].<ref name="Cleveland8" /> Filming in Cleveland concluded on June 27, 2013.<ref name="Cleveland9" />

[[Trent Opaloch]], best known for his work on ''[[District 9]]'' (2009) and ''[[Elysium (film)|Elysium]]'' (2013), was brought in as the [[director of photography]]. Opaloch said that while attempting to emulate the 1970s thrillers that served as inspiration for the writers and directors, the staging and lighting tried to bring realism through "classic framing and naturalistic lighting", and the filming was done with [[hand-held camera]]s. To achieve this, Opaloch used [[Arri Alexa]] Plus 4:3 cameras with [[Panavision]] [[anamorphic format|anamorphic]] lenses and [[Codex Digital]] recorders.<ref name="Codex" /> Stunt work aimed for realistic action, prioritizing practical effects. The fight scenes were staged for months, with a choreography that aimed to highlight Captain America's superhuman qualities, and "move away from impressionistic action into specificity": the raid on the S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel had stealthiness as the Captain knocked out enemies to avert detection, and the freeway fight with Winter Soldier was more "last minute" to highlight the characters' struggle to survive.<ref name="FrontlineFeaturette" /> In contrast to the quick editing and moving cameras of modern action films, ''The Winter Soldier'' aimed to feature longer action scenes that felt more visceral and dangerous.<ref name="AudioCommentary" /> The Russos mentioned the bank robbing scene of ''[[Heat (1995 film)|Heat]]'' (1995) as a major influence, which they described as "the most intense eight minutes of filmmaking I've seen in a movie theater",<ref name="FrontlineFeaturette" /> and action scenes directed by [[Brian De Palma]], such as the vault heist in ''[[Mission: Impossible (film)|Mission: Impossible]]'' (1996) where "very likable characters are put in impossible situations that the audience is put on the edge on how they'd escape". Examples of these types of scenes include the ambushes on Nick Fury in the street and Captain America in the elevator.<ref name="AudioCommentary" />

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=== Post-production ===

[[File:Hayley Atwell aging VFX in Captain America The Winter Soldier.jpg|thumb|left|Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter before (top) and after (bottom) she was digitally altered to appear older in the film]]

Additional photography was filmed in December 2013 and January 2014,<ref name="Reshoots" /> in order for the Russos to accurately show the state of each character after the defeat of S.H.I.E.L.D., having read the script of ''[[Avengers: Age of Ultron]]'' (2015) to guide their choices.<ref name="AudioCommentary" /> [[Joss Whedon]], director of ''The Avengers'' and ''Age of Ultron'', wrote and directed the [[post-credits scene|mid-credits scene]],<ref name="PostCredits" /> which featured [[Elizabeth Olsen]] as [[Wanda Maximoff (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Wanda Maximoff]], [[Aaron Taylor-Johnson]] as [[Pietro Maximoff (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Pietro Maximoff]],<ref name="OlsenTaylorJohnson" /> and [[Thomas Kretschmann]] as Baron [[Wolfgang von Strucker (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Wolfgang von Strucker]].<ref name="Kretschmann" /> The title sequences were created by design firm Sarofsky, who had worked with the Russos since ''Community''. Sarofsky collaborated with comic book artist [[David W. Mack]] on the sequences.<ref name="ScreenMagCredits" />

Anthony Mackie said the Russo brothers relied on minimal use of [[computer-generated imagery]], stating, "The Russos, what they did that was so great was, they wanted to stay with live action, which is a dying art form. If they can build it, they built it. If we could do it, we did it. They wanted to do as little CGI as possible. That's why the movie looks so great."<ref name="MTV2" /> Nevertheless, six special effects companies were involved in creating the visual effects of the film, including [[Industrial Light & Magic]] (ILM), [[Scanline VFX]], [[Lola Visual Effects]], [[Luma Pictures]], Whiskytree and [[The Embassy Visual Effects|The Embassy]], with [[previsualization]] completed by Proof.<ref name="Fxguide" /> The film contained 2,500 visual effects shots, with 900 worked on by ILM.<ref name="ILM" /> The film featured extensive use of [[Virtual actor|digital doubles]]. Russell Earl, ILM visual effects supervisor, said, "The character that we did the most work on was Falcon. We knew we were going to do CG wings. We also did some shots with wires and some with stunt doubles and head replacement. And we needed a very good digital double."<ref name="ILM" /> Lola VFX, who worked on the pre-serum Steve Rogers scenes in this film and ''The First Avenger'', also worked on shots featuring an elderly Peggy Carter. This involved digitally transposing the facial features of an elderly actress onto the face of Atwell, who had performed her lines with no make-up and only a few tracking markers.<ref name="Fxguide" />

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<ref name="LondonPremiere">{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.467985776661704.1073741890.237586379701646&type=1|title=Captain America: The Winter Soldier UK premiere|publisher=Facebook|date=March 21, 2014|access-date=March 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312023617/https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.467985776661704.1073741890.237586379701646&type=1|archive-date=March 12, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="metacritic">{{cite Metacritic |id=captain-america-the-winter-soldier |type=movie |title=Captain America: The Winter SoldieSoldier |access-date=February 15, 2021}}</ref>

<ref name="McCarthy-THR">{{cite web|last=McCarthy |first=Todd |date=March 20, 2014 |title=Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Film Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/captain-america-winter-soldier/review/689435 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |access-date=March 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321145154/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/captain-america-winter-soldier/review/689435 |archive-date=March 21, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

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[[Category:Superhero thriller films]]

[[Category:Techno-thriller films]]

[[Category:English-language science fiction action films]]

[[Category:English-language action thriller films]]

[[Category:English-language adventure films]]