'Captain America' Shows Off His Shield In First-Look Photo

Chris Evans appears in costume on the cover of Entertainment Weekly.
By Eric Ditzian

Chris Evans as Captain America on the cover of <i>Entertainment Weekly</i>
Photo: Entertainment Weekly

Spies on the set of "Captain America: The First Avenger" have been snapping photos and recording shaky videos of Chris Evans and his co-stars since shortly after the production got underway in the U.K. this summer.

But now we have our first, Marvel-approved look at Evans as Captain America in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly. The cover image showcases the actor in his World War II-era, stars-and-stripes outfit and clutching that iconic shield at his side. The look on Evans' face tells you all you need to know: Do not mess with the Captain.

Evans admitted to the magazine that he had a ton of apprehension about accepting the role, a move that required him to sign a six-picture deal with Marvel. "At the time, I remember telling a buddy of mine, 'If the movie bombs, I'm f---ed. If the movie hits, I'm f---ed!' " he said. "I was just scared. I realized my whole decision making process was fear based, and you never want to make a decision out of fear.

"I can't believe was almost too chicken to play Captain America," he added.

The film is set in 1942 and tells the story of how Steve Rogers (Evans) goes from a skinny kid with an itch to kill Nazis to a superhero called Captain America, thanks to a top-secret military program called Project: Rebirth. Haley Atwell plays his love interest, Major Peggy Carter, while Sebastian Stan has stepped into the role of sidekick Bucky Barnes. Hugo Weaving, meanwhile, plays Red Skull, Hitler's über-evil weapons chief and, inevitably, the Captain's adversary after he forms plans to use a fantastical device called the Tesseract to conquer the world.

"The interesting thing about [Captain America] is that he's an everyman who, in the course of a few minutes, become a perfect human specimen," said director Joe Johnston. "That has to create some interesting personal issues. I saw it as an opportunity to make a superhero movie that felt real, that didn't have to rely on an overabundance of fantasy elements."

Check out everything we've got on "Captain America: The First Avenger."

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