Captain America: The Winter Soldier


Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a 2014 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Captain America, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger and the ninth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo from a screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. It stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America alongside Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell, Toby Jones, Jenny Agutter, Robert Redford, and Samuel L. Jackson. In the film, Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, and Sam Wilson uncover a conspiracy within the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. while facing the Winter Soldier, a mysterious assassin.
Markus and McFeely began writing the sequel around the release of The First Avenger in July 2011. The script draws from the Winter Soldier story arc in the comic books written by Ed Brubaker, as well as conspiracy fiction from the 1970s such as the film Three Days of the Condor. The Winter Soldier explores S.H.I.E.L.D. in a similar way to how the first film explored the U.S. military, after Rogers was shown working for S.H.I.E.L.D. in the MCU crossover film The Avengers. The Russo brothers signed on to direct in June 2012 and casting began the following month. They wanted the film to be a political thriller that focused on topical ideas such as drone warfare, targeted killing, and global surveillance. Filming began in April 2013 in Los Angeles, California, before moving to Washington, D.C., and Cleveland, Ohio. Though the directors prioritized practical effects and intense stunt work to differentiate from previous Captain America portrayals, visual effects were created by six companies for 2,500 shots including the climactic Helicarrier sequence.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on March 13, 2014, and was released in the United States on April 4, as part of Phase Two of the MCU. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances, action sequences, storyline, and themes. It grossed $714 million worldwide, making it the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2014, and received several accolades including a nomination for best visual effects at the 87th Academy Awards. A sequel titled Captain America: Civil War, also directed by the Russos, was released in 2016.

Plot

Two years after the Battle of New York, Steve Rogers works in Washington, D.C., for the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., while adjusting to contemporary society. He is sent with Agent Natasha Romanoff and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s counter-terrorism team S.T.R.I.K.E., led by Agent Brock Rumlow, to free hostages aboard a S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel from pirates led by Georges Batroc. During the mission, Rogers learns that Romanoff has a secret assignment from S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury to extract data from the ship's computers.
At the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, Rogers confronts Fury and is briefed about Project Insight: three Helicarriers linked to spy satellites, designed to preemptively eliminate threats. Unable to decrypt Romanoff's data, Fury becomes suspicious about Insight and asks senior S.H.I.E.L.D. official Alexander Pierce to delay the project. On his way to rendezvous with Agent Maria Hill, Fury is ambushed by assailants led by an assassin called the Winter Soldier. Escaping to Rogers's apartment, Fury warns him that S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised. He is shot by the Winter Soldier before handing Rogers a flash drive of the ship's data and tells him to trust no one. Fury is later pronounced dead during surgery.
Pierce questions Rogers about Fury, but Rogers refuses to answer. He is branded a fugitive, escapes from S.T.R.I.K.E., and is joined by Romanoff. They use the flash drive to find a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker in New Jersey where they activate a supercomputer containing the preserved consciousness of Arnim Zola. Zola explains that after being captured by Rogers during World War II, he was recruited to S.H.I.E.L.D. and helped to secretly reform Hydra within its ranks. Over the decades, Hydra convinced the world to trade freedom for security and used the Winter Soldier to cover their tracks. Rogers and Romanoff narrowly escape a S.H.I.E.L.D. missile that destroys the bunker, and realize that Pierce is Hydra's leader within S.H.I.E.L.D.
Rogers and Romanoff enlist the help of the former's friend Sam Wilson, a VA counselor and former USAF pararescueman who uses a powered "Falcon" wingpack. The trio capture S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell, a Hydra mole, and force him to divulge that Zola developed a data mining algorithm that can identify current or future threats to Hydra. The Insight Helicarriers would sweep the globe using satellite-directed guns to eliminate these threats. Sitwell is killed in an ambush by the Winter Soldier, whom Rogers recognizes as his presumed-dead best friend Bucky Barnes. Barnes survived due to Zola's experimentation and has been repeatedly brainwashed and cryogenically frozen to perform Hydra's missions. Hill extracts Rogers, Romanoff, and Wilson to a safehouse where Fury, who faked his death, plans to sabotage the Helicarriers by replacing their control chips.
After World Security Council members arrive at the Triskelion for the Insight launch, Rogers broadcasts Hydra's plot to the building. Romanoff, disguised as one of the Council members, disarms Pierce. Fury arrives and forces Pierce to unlock S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database so Romanoff can leak classified information, exposing Hydra to the public. Following a struggle, Fury fatally shoots Pierce. Rogers and Wilson raid two Helicarriers and replace the control chips, but Barnes destroys Wilson's wingpack and fights Rogers on the third. Rogers replaces the final chip, allowing Hill to take control and have the vessels destroy each other. He refuses to fight Barnes, who does not recognize him. As the Helicarriers collide with the Triskelion, Rogers falls into the Potomac River. Rumlow, another Hydra agent, is injured in the destruction. Barnes rescues the unconscious Rogers before disappearing.
With S.H.I.E.L.D. in disarray, Romanoff appears before a Senate subcommittee to defend her and Rogers's actions. Fury, under the cover of his apparent death, pursues Hydra's remaining cells. Rogers and Wilson decide to find Barnes. In a mid-credits scene, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker and his scientists at a Hydra lab dismiss the actions of Rogers and Romanoff as they examine an energy-filled scepter and twin test subjects who have been given superhuman abilities: one has superhuman speed, the other has telekinetic powers. In a post-credits scene, Barnes visits his own memorial at the Smithsonian Institution to learn about himself.

Cast

  • Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America:
An Avenger and a World War II veteran who was enhanced to the peak of human physicality by an experimental serum, frozen in suspended animation, and is now struggling to adjust to the 21st century. Describing his character's adjustment to the modern world, Evans said, "It's not so much about his shock with ... It's more about the societal differences. He's gone from the '40s to today; he comes from a world where people were a little more trusting, the threats not as deep. Now, it's harder to tell who's right and wrong. Actions you take to protect people from threats could compromise liberties and privacy. That's tough for Steve to swallow." Evans trained in "parkour, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, karate, and boxing", as the Russo brothers believed that Rogers being brought to the present "also meant that he had studied and mastered modern fighting styles and techniques". The filmmakers also looked to make the character's shield, which has traditionally been used for defense, a more offensive weapon.
  • Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow:
An Avenger and a highly trained spy and assassin working for S.H.I.E.L.D. who teams up with Rogers. Screenwriter Christopher Markus said that Black Widow was a "great contrast" to Captain America, describing her as "incredibly modern, not very reverent, and just very straightforward whereas Steve is, you know a man from the '40s. He's not a boy scout, but he is reserved and has a moral center, whereas her moral center moves." The Russos added, "She's a character who lies for a living. That's what she does. He's a character who tells the truth. Give them a problem and they'll have different ways of approaching it. She's pushing him to modernize, and he's pushing her to add a certain level of integrity to her life." When asked about Romanoff's relationship with Rogers, Johansson responded, "By a series of unfortunate encounters, they will be in a situation in which their friendship becomes more intimate. They share many similarities because they live on the defensive without relying on anyone. Also, the two have been working for the government throughout their professional careers. With their friendship they begin to question what they want and what is their true identity."
  • Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier:
Steve Rogers' childhood best friend who has re-emerged as an enhanced brainwashed assassin after supposedly being killed in action during World War II. Regarding the character, Feige said, "Winter Soldier has been methodically, almost robotically, following orders for 70 years." Stan said despite his nine-picture deal with Marvel Studios including his appearance in Captain America: The First Avenger, he was not sure that Bucky would make an imminent return, and only heard the sequel's official title was "The Winter Soldier" through a friend attending San Diego Comic-Con. Stan did five months of physical training to prepare for the role and did historical research, stating, "I dove into the whole Cold War thing. I looked at the KGB. I looked at all kinds of spy movies, and all kinds of documentaries about that time, and what it was about. I grabbed anything from that time period. Anything about brainwashing." Stan also practiced daily with a plastic knife to be able to do the Winter Soldier's knife tricks without the aid of a stuntman. Regarding Bucky's transition into the Winter Soldier, Stan said, "You know, the truth of the situation is although he looks very different and there's different things about him, it still comes from the same person. I think you'll get to see that no matter what. I think part of my goal here was to make sure that you see an extension of that version but just a different color of that same version in a way. I think he's still the same guy; he's cut from the same cloth." Stan said he felt the character's introduction in The Winter Soldier was "a preview of the guy", with more aspects of the character being explored in the film's sequel Captain America: Civil War.
  • Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon:
A former U.S. Air Force pararescueman trained by the military in aerial combat using a specially designed wing pack. About the role, Mackie said " a really smart guy who went through major military training and becomes a tactical leader." He also remarked, "He's the first African-American superhero. It makes me feel all the work I've done has been paying off. I have a son, nephews and nieces, and I love the idea that they can dress up as the Falcon on Halloween. They now have someone they can idolize. That's a huge honor for me." Marvel, who cast Mackie because of his "energy and sense of fun", did not let him read a script before signing on. Mackie spent five months doing two-a-day workouts and eating an 11,000-calorie-per-day diet to get into shape for the role. Commenting on Rogers' relationship with Wilson, Evans said, "Meeting Mackie's character, he used to serve, now he works at the VA counseling guys who come home with PTSD—they connect on that level. I think they're both wounded warriors who don't bleed on other people. Cap has no one to bleed on. I think Mackie knows how to handle people like that.... Sometimes when things are bad, trusting a stranger is the way to go."
  • Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill:
A high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who works closely with Nick Fury. Smulders said she performed some of her own stunts in the film, explaining, "I try to do my own stunts whenever I can. You're only allowed to do certain stunts. There is an amazing team of stunt people that do most of the work in this film. But, I studied a lot of tae kwon do. I also did a lot of training just with weapons because I'm not very comfortable around guns. I had to get comfortable because that's my character's thing... I like to get really physical so I feel empowered when I am on set and even though you don't see it on screen, maybe I am taking people out that you don't see off camera."
  • Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow:
The commander of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s counter-terrorism S.T.R.I.K.E. team. Grillo hinted in a June 2014 interview about the character's return in the sequel with the alter-ego Crossbones. Grillo signed a seven-film deal.
  • Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter / Agent 13:
A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent assigned to guard Rogers without his knowledge. About the character, VanCamp said, "I play Agent 13 / Sharon Carter which everyone knows but we don't really touch on that in this film. We're just sort of introducing her. When we first see her we realize she's living next to Captain America... they sort of have a little thing going on and as we all know in the comic books they had a love affair off and on for years. They had a very complicated relationship. It's almost as if they are planting the seeds now. Sort of leaving room to go wherever they want to go with it." Regarding her casting, Joe Russo said, "We wanted someone that Cap would have an immediate interest in. It had to be a strong-willed person, and we felt that Emily's work on Revenge was a great test tube for what this character could be. She's obviously very credible with physicality, she holds the screen really well, and she even looks like the character from the books."
  • Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter:
A retired military agent with the Strategic Scientific Reserve and co-founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. who is a former love interest of Steve Rogers. On receiving the script, Atwell realized the character "would be 96, and I would be up to the eyeballs in prosthetics". The visual effects team was not satisfied with the initial make-up used to make Atwell look older, and eventually resorted to aging her through CGI methods.
  • Toby Jones as Arnim Zola: A Hydra scientist from World War II.
  • Jenny Agutter as Hawley: A member of the World Security Council.
  • Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce:
A senior official within S.H.I.E.L.D., member of the World Security Council, and old comrade of Nick Fury. Redford was cast in part as an homage to his roles in 1970s thrillers such as Three Days of the Condor, and for what the directors described as "an acting legend playing a villainous role" akin to Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West. As to what attracted him to the film, Redford said it interested him by being different from his usual work, and that he "wanted to experience this new form of filmmaking that's taken over where you have kind of cartoon characters brought to life through high technology".
  • Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury:
The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Regarding Fury's questionable code of ethics, Jackson said, "Almost everything that comes out of Nick Fury's mouth is a lie in some sense. He has to ask, is he even lying to himself, too? He has a very good idea of what's going on but his paranoia keeps him from believing some of it." Jackson added, "You see Nick Fury the office guy, him going about the day-to-day work of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the politics as opposed to that other stuff. It's great to have him dealing with Captain America in terms of being able to speak to him soldier to soldier and try to explain to him how the world has changed in another way while he was frozen in time. Some of the people who used to be our enemies are now our allies—him trying to figure out, 'Well, how do we trust those guys?' or 'How do we trust the guys that you didn't trust who don't trust you?' And explaining to him that the black and white of good guys/bad guys has now turned into this gray area." McFeely said, "Fury represents an obstacle for Steve in some ways. They don't always agree on how S.H.I.E.L.D. ought to be used." The writers gave Fury a more prominent role in The Winter Soldier, since within a plot featuring S.H.I.E.L.D. being dismantled, Fury would "take the brunt of it". They also intended on depicting a character that had so far been depicted as a self-assured, commanding man as vulnerable, to enhance the sense of danger in the Hydra conspiracy.
Additionally, Maximiliano Hernández and Garry Shandling reprise their roles from previous MCU films as Jasper Sitwell and Senator Stern, respectively. Georges St-Pierre plays Georges Batroc, a mercenary and a master of the French form of kickboxing known as savate. Callan Mulvey plays Jack Rollins, a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s S.T.R.I.K.E. unit. In addition to Agutter, Chin Han, Alan Dale, and Bernard White appear as members of the World Security Council. Comedic actors Danny Pudi and DC Pierson have small roles as a S.H.I.E.L.D. technician and an Apple Store employee, respectively. Gary Sinise narrates a Captain America-themed Smithsonian Institution exhibit and Stan Lee cameos as a security guard there. Winter Soldier creator Ed Brubaker makes a cameo as a scientist working on the Winter Soldier. Co-director Joe Russo cameos as a doctor, and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely cameo as two S.H.I.E.L.D. interrogators. Thomas Kretschmann, Henry Goodman, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Elizabeth Olsen make uncredited appearances as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, Dr. List, Pietro Maximoff, and Wanda Maximoff, respectively, in the mid-credits scene.