Tweet

I hate to begin the morning on such a pessimistic note — and a note that involves back-alley rumors and shadow casting — but it’s Monday. What else are we going to do with ourselves? A tipster over at CinemaSpy is saying today that Star Trek lead Chris Pine was on the shortlist of actors that Paramount and Marvel were looking at for the role of Steve Rogers in the upcoming Captain America film. This is wholly unsurprising news, for the following reasons:

1. Chris Pine has a growing relationship with Paramount (Star Trek, the impending sequel, Carriers, The Art of Making Money (2011) and the next Jack Ryan movie (2012) are all Paramount properties.)
2. He is young, white, athletic and charismatic.
3. He’s recognizable enough to affect box office, but unknown enough to not have too much baggage.
4. He’s probably still working pretty cheap, despite being the new Capt. Kirk.

Those would be the reasons why Paramount and Marvel might want to insert him into the role of Steve Rogers. But for the life of me, I can’t think of any reasons why anyone thinking creatively about this film would want him in said role. Pine might be young and handsome, but he lacks the gravitas to bring Steve Rogers to life. Rogers is a rugged soldier, a big, strong, badass and sometimes stoic figure (from what I know of him). Pine is none of these things. He’s charismatic, sarcastic and a little too pretty. It works for Captain Kirk, but would not work for Captain America.

Your thoughts?