With pre-production on Captain America: The First Avenger now running at a breakneck pace ready to properly start shooting at the end of the month, it looks like director Joe Johnston is slotting the last few elements of his cast into place. The latest signature on a contract is Stanley Tucci, as Dr Abraham Erskine.
For those who have never cracked a copy of the comic, Erskine was the scientist responsible for developing the Super-Soldier serum that allowed regular schlub Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) to become the power-packed superhero Captain America.
Oh, and spoiler alert: in the original story, events don’t exactly go well for Erskine, since shortly after Rogers completes his transformation, a Nazi spy shoots Erskine dead. Which rather chucks a spanner into anyone’s plans for creating other enhanced troops since the brain box committed his serum formula to memory. Still, who knows what changes the movie will make?
Tucci, who was last seen in The Lovely Bones and Julie & Julia, joins a cast that includes the likes of Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones, Neal McDonough, Sebastian Stan and Toby Jones.
The film will stride onto our screens on July 22, 2011.