Winter Soldier writers hint at “psychotic 1950’s Cap” for Captain America 3

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

In an interview with Den of Geek, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely had a conversation about the upcoming film, and teased a possible story arc for the third movie. The duo will be back for CAPTAIN AMERICA 3, as well as directors Joe and Anthony Russo.

Markus and McFeely were asked if the new movie will follow any of the storylines from the comics, while also following up on the events from CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER.

McFeely: Oh yeah, you can probably predict some of the threads we would like to pick up again that we’ve laid out there. And we always go back to the comics and dive back in and look at anything we’ve missed in the last few years that might be relevant.

Markus: We’ve definitely set out on a more realistic road in the Cap movies, you know. Even more grounded than in the other MCU movies. And so it kind of rules out Cap fighting the Dinosaur Man or something like that. There are some that aren’t gonna start and other ones that — I mean there’s a couple we’re playing with right now that we really want to take elements from. Which we'll not reveal.

Markus: All I’m saying is psychotic 1950s Cap.

Captain America was battling Communists in the 1950s, and if you follow the comics, you know during that period Steve Rogers should have been an ice cube due to what happened to him in the 1940s. However, later it was revealed it wasn't Rogers wearing the costume, but William Burnside, a man who also was injected with the super soldier serum. There were side effects though, and Burnside eventually went insane before being placed in suspended animation. Later he was brainwashed into becoming the leader of a Neo-Nazi army.

Earlier in the interview the writing duo were also asked about keeping the tone and spirit faithful when adapting a comic storyline into a movie.

McFeely: Exactly right. Like, you know, we kind of knew we’re not gonna use the Cosmic Cube. We’ve been there, we’ve done that. He’s not Russian exactly. He’s not a Soviet experiment.

Markus: We didn’t want to bring back the Skull so soon.

McFeely: Right.

Markus: Let alone have him inside the head of somebody else.

McFeely: There were just some things that would be much tougher to do on screen as they are in the comic.

Markus: But yeah, it is a matter of being really respectful to the tone and the spirit of it without necessarily having to duplicate the exact details.

They didn't want to bring back Red Skull so soon? Does that mean he might appear in CAPTAIN AMERICA 3?

Markus: (laughs) I only said that because I think it’s fairly clear he didn’t die in that first movie but f*cked off into Wonderland.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER looks like it's going to be a huge movie, and from the sound of things, the events in the new movie might really shake things up in Marvel's Cinematic Universe. Very interested in knowing what direction Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely and the Russo Brothers will go with the third movie.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER will open on April 4th, 2014, and CAPTAIN AMERICA 3 is scheduled to hit theaters on May 6th, 2016.