Leonardo DiCaprio to Promote Living Green as Captain America?

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on June 13, 2008

Good afternoon, sports fans. It is time to play “Spin the Captain America Casting Wheel” — are you ready to play? Alright, we begin over at Latino Review, our own friendly neighborhood one-stop-shop for crazy ass rumors and insider information. Yesterday they reported that there is a new name on the top of Marvel’s list for a man to fill the shoes of Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America. This man is an eco-friendly, activist who once went down on the Titanic — in a completely platonic and non-sexual way, of course.

His name, if you haven’t figured it out already from the headline, is Leonardo DiCaprio. And though they are very quick to point out that Leo is on the wish list and that no offer has been made, our sneaky Latin friends are sure that DiCaprio is the man that Marvel would most like to see pick up the shield of Captain America — which he appears to have left on Tony Stark’s workbench.

This would certainly make for an interesting development for Marvel, seeing as previous rumors have put the likes of Matthew McConaughey and Brad Pitt on their Captain America shortlist as well. And while DiCaprio certainly has the dramatic chops to give Steve Rogers some depth, he has never done big, muscle-bound action in the past. Then again, for those who ran out and saw The Incredible Hulk this afternoon, you will notice that the “super soldier serum” can make even the likes of Tim Roth fight like a badass.

As I said in my review of The Incredible Hulk earlier this week, if there is one thing that Marvel has done right with their first two films as a standalone studio, it has been casting. And as we look forward to their next four cinematic ventures (logos pictured to the right), we can see that casting is going to be a very big factor in the success of future franchises — especially The Avengers. In fact, in my mind The Avengers project poses the biggest challenge — will all of these big talents, the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Edward Norton and potentially Leonardo DiCaprio all come together for one film? Will Marvel be able to afford it should all of these other films continue to kill at the box office? We have already heard the rumblings of problems signing on Jon Favreau and Downey for Iron Man 2, most of which are unsubstantiated rumors as of this moment, but still — it is worth discussing.

Also notable is the fact that The First Avenger: Captain America is due out in 2011, the same year as Avengers. Talk about a potentially tight shooting schedule, should the character be in both films…

Sound Off: Do you think Leonardo DiCaprio would be a good fit for the lead role in Captain America? As well, how do you think that the star power Marvel is eyeing could effect the production of The Avengers?

Read more articles by Neil Miller