Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits cinemas this week, and there are several of us down in the HUG Bunker who think that it’s the best Marvel movie to date. Last week we spoke with Nick Fury himself, Samuel L Jackson, about the way the process has changed during his tenure as the Marvel U’s fictional puppet-master-in-chief, whether you can enjoy these films as an insider, and what it is that Marvel have got that DC haven’t.
How’s the process of making the Marvel films changed over time?
It hasn’t. It’s still the same process. We started out just making movies. My parts get bigger and bigger and bigger, but the filmmaking process is pretty much the same. A little more digital these days, but other than that, we just show up, read the script and try to have fun.
Does the fact that the movie has something to say make it more attractive to you?
“I have a nine picture deal, so I don’t have a choice about showing up, but I do think that having an event movie that has a political bent, and somewhat of an interesting storyline is something that we haven’t seen. It’s very different, and I think it makes the audience enjoyment of this particularfilm a little better than it would normally be. I don’t know, some kid coming into the movie might say, ‘you’ve got to think? Where’s all the blowing up stuff?’ then there are other people who will be attracted to the film because they find out that it does have some purpose and some intent and it does make a statement about those kind of things…
“Captain America is from another era, and his idea of freedom is different from what we think freedom is now. That whole process of pointing the guns at the people you’re protecting also is sort of a new concept. And everybody being spied on is a new concept for a lot of people, but I’ve felt that way since the 60s. I don’t know why everybody’s so surprised.”
The Russo Brothers
“In our case, we have two directors that are brand new to the Marvel world, so when they come in they have their ideas about how this is supposed to work, and that’s supposed to work. All that’s great; the majority of the time, when we as actors show up on the movie set, most of us have been on more movie sets than the average director. Sometimes you have to say, ‘just let me do this, you set up the shot, I’ll do this thing, and you look at it, and if you don’t like it, we’ll talk about it and I’ll tell you why you should like it.”
Experiencing the movie as a comic fan
“The Winter Soldier story line is out there, but it’s not this particular story line. It’s very different. Like she said, it’s very contemporary with what it deals with, it deals with, all the different things: spying and freedom and loss of freedom. All the other stuff. Just because you read the comics doesn’t mean you can’t go in and enjoy them. Everybody has an expectation.”
Experiencing the movie having read the script
“I read it and I see a movie in my mind. I don’t get to go to the editing room, I don’t get to do any of that stuff, and I don’t actually go watch them shoot the rest of the movie. I just watch them shoot the parts that I do. I never go to the monitor and look at the replay of what I look like when I did what I did, because I’d rather see the whole movie and see what it is. So I’m as surprised as everybody else when I walk in there.”
What Marvel have got right that DC haven’t
“I think that there are a number of characters in the Marvel Universe that an ordinary guy could look at and imagine they could be that person, it’s just a matter of being in the right place at the right time, or getting the right serum or whatever. But Marvel has found a way to connect all these movies and link them ,and link some characters that are likable. I don’t know why DC hasn’t found that same formula. Superman’s out there, and The Dark Knight is there, but they’re like islands in the storm.
“The Dark Knight sort of works, and people go to see it because they get off on that, but it’s more about the bad guys than the good guy. I don’t know what Marvel has, or how they’ve figured out this formula that these movies work. I know why Avengers works, because it’s exciting and it’s funny. Joss did make a comic book movie, and it works. I think this movie works on that level also. There’s a seriousness to it, but there’s also a comic level, that’s great, and the excitement level’s high.
“I think the addition of Falcon is great – Anthony brings a whole ‘nother kind of energy to the universe. He’s a great guy to have in the film, and a great guy to have on set. He makes things light, he has fun. He understands that when we go to set, it’s like a big playground for us. Everybody goes off and we do other movies, and then we come back together ,and we’re in the playground, and it’s like, ‘where you been? Where you been? Where you been? So what game are we going to play today?’, and we put on our costumes and we play that game. And we have a great time doing it. And we like each other. All that stuff shows in the film. All our personal relationships bleed into the film process. And we look like we like and care about each other, that we have each other’s backs, and I think people relate to that in a real way.”
The lack of diversity in comic book movies
“I’m not disappointed by it; a little surprised, in this day and age, that it hasn’t come to fruition. That Black Panther is not – being part of the Marvel Universe, there should be a way to integrate him into these movies. That would be fine, they just haven’t done it. I’m sure, when they figure out a way to make it work, and they figure out it’s profitable – maybe Tyler Perry will do it. I don’t know.”
