Captain America film Informatics Part 01: Intro to the films that started it all

Captain America: The First Avenger is a 2011 superhero film based on the Marvel comics superhero Captain America and the fifth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is directed by Joe Johnston and stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Hugo Weaving as Red Skull, Hayley Atwell as Rogers' love interest Peggy Carter and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes. The film is the final prelude to the crossover film The Avengers.

Set predominantly during World War II, the film tells the story of Steve Rogers, a sickly man from Brooklyn who is transformed into super-soldier Captain America to aid in the war effort. Rogers must stop the Red Skull, Adolf Hitler's ruthless head of weaponry and the leader of an organization that intends to use an artifact called the "Tesseract" as an energy-source for world domination.


Captain America: The First Avenger premiered in Hollywood on July 19, 2011, and was released in the United States on July 22, 2011. The film became a critical and commercial success, grossing a total of $370 million worldwide. The Blu-ray and DVD were released on October 25, 2011. A sequel titled Captain America: The Winter Soldier is set for release in 2014. The sequel takes place 2 years after the events of The Avengers; here in this film Captain America and the Black Widow join forces to stop a covert enemy that is hiding in Washington, D.C.

Cast from both films
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter
Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier
Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark (flashback in 2nd movie)
Toby Jones as Dr. Arnim Zola (flashback in 2nd movie)
Samuel L Jackson as Director Nick Fury

Cast members who appeared in first film
Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Chester Phillips
Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull
Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan
Derk Luke as Gabe Jones
Kenneth Choi as Jim Morita
Bruno Ricci as Jacques Dernier
John Joseph Feild as James Montgomery Falsworth
Stanley Tucci as Dr. Abraham Erskine
Richard Armitage as Heinz Kruger
Michael Brandon as Senator Brandt

Cast members who appeared in second film
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/The Falcon
Cobie Smoulders as Agent Maria Hill
Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter
Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones
Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce
Chin Han as World Security Council member Yen
Georges St. Pierre as Georges Batroc the Leaper