(Still) Searching For Captain America

Although it has not been mentioned in a while, the production of the live action Captain America film draws ever closer and still no official announcement on who exactly will be playing everybody's favorite Super Soldier.

But (I may be way off the mark here)....but....I think the decision has already been made and Hollywood has just managed to keep it under wraps. I have nothing to really back up my theory, just a strong gut feeling. I even feel that the powers that be that already know which actor has been chosen has dropped us all a few clues.

The first time I stumpled across this highly secretive train of thought and noticed what could have been a very subtle clue was when I was watching the movie Whiteout just last month.



In one scene there was a character named Robert Pryce who another character in the same scene jokingly called...you guessed it....Captain America. And something about the way the name was spoken and the way it was worked into the dialouge just made it feel there was something more here. Something that only a few people were aware of. That one spoken line actually seemed more important than the entire scene in the film in which it was spoken. I actually expected the other actor to break the fourth wall, point at the actor in question and say..."Yeah...this is the guy."

Maybe it was just me, but I couldn't help but think to myself....was that a clue? Is Gabriel Macht (the actor that played Robert Pryce in Whiteout) really Captain America?

Who is Gabriel Macht? A few of you may think the name is familiar but just can't place it. Well Macht is the same actor who had the lead role in The Spirit which was released late 2008.



A sidenote about this film. I watched it when it came out and although when I purchased my ticket I was sure I was going to hate the movie. I ended up liking it. Liking it a lot. Recently (last weekend as a matter of fact) I watched the Spirit a second time...along with Punisher Warzone, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and the Watchmen. After watching all these Comic Related films a second time I realized that I liked Wolverine and Punisher less than I did the first time I watched them...I liked the Watchmen just as much (which is very much)....but the Spirit was the only one of the four that I liked MORE the second time around.

Now back to my Captain America/Gabriel Macht therory. In The Spirit of Captain America there is a scene in the movie where Macht as the Spirit picks up a man hole cover and uses it as a sheild to repel machine gun fire. Seconds later he throws that same man hole cover in serious Cap fashion into one of the henchman working for the Octopus and the momentum of the makeshift shield throws the guy into a brick wall.

Two Captain America references, two different films, the same actor both times.

Gabriel Macht.



If Macht is not already secretly cast as Steve Rogers/Captain America I am officially throwing his name into the ring. I believe the guy can do it and do it well. My biggest concern is of course the age. I want a very young "looking" Steve Rogers seeing how this film is supposed to take place in WWII...and Cap was very young during that time period. Macht can be made to look very young. They did just that for the Spirit film.

And there may be a few of you wondering why I would promote an actor who starred in two comic book themed films that tanked at the box office for a role such as this.

Well....as I pointed out earlier the Spirit is in my opinion a good film. It delivered everything it promised. It may not be a film that everybody could get into (just like the Watchmen) but it was actually quite good. I can't make people like good movies...or more people would have liked the Watchmen and the Spirit.

As for Whiteout....this movie was indeed very bad, but not because of Macht. Both he and Beckinsale did very good...but two good actors cannot save a bad film and this thing was bad for so many different reasons...making it one of the worst comic films I ever watched.

But that doesn't change my mind about believing Macht could very easily pull off the role as The First Avenger. I'm not going to get you to try to watch Whiteout....but rent a copy of the Spirit. Watch Macht as the man character and I hoonestly believe you will feel the same way afterwards. And who knows...maybe you will even like the film. give it a shot.

Macht also played a very convincing Frank James, older brother to Jesse James in the film American Outlaws.