Captain America 2 narrows down an underwhelming shortlist of directors

March 30th 2012, 1:17pm

When CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER was announced I was anxious to see who they’d hire to helm the pic. Cap stands as one of my all-time favorite characters and the possibility of screwing him up onscreen rested heavily on the person behind the camera. Thankfully, Joe Johnston was brought on board and delivered an outstanding film. Sigh’s of relief echoed across fandom.

Now, comes the shortlist of directors for CAPTAIN AMERICA 2, narrowed down to three choices, each as strange as the next for a superhero film. F. Gary Gray (FRIDAY, THE ITALIAN JOB), George Nolfi (THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU), and Anthony and Joseph Russo (YOU, ME, AND DUPREE, Community).

From Vulture:

“Kevin [Feige, Marvel Studios’ president of production] is a ‘vibe guy,’” one source familiar with the talks explains about the unusual decision to include a pair of Emmy-winning comedy guys in the mix. Adds the insider, “He likes to see if he gets along with people before he’ll decide about spending the next two years with them. And apparently, they hit it off with Kevin in the room.”

What? That doesn’t get you excited? The writers of Community on Captain America? The guy who filmed Ice Cube and Chris Tucker smoking weed all day long? The director who filmed Matt Damon in a stupid hat, while running from men in suits?

Ugh. Man, I know Marvel is trying to think outside the box, but these are some odd choices. It’s not that they’re necessarily bad directors, just uninspired. We all saw how the hiring of Patty Jenkins (MONSTER) for THOR 2 went down. Perhaps “vibing” in a room isn’t the best way to hire a director? Just thinking out loud here. Maybe, I don’t know, look at what they’ve done to merit being hired for a big-budget superhero flick where a guy wears red, white, and blue and tosses a shield? Just a thought.

Apparently, “additional meetings with all three candidates are being scheduled for early next month, and that a decision could be made as early as mid-April.”

So, it’s official. I’m now anxious about this project, just as I was for the first one. Shit.