Article: On the scene: Captain America

Originally published 4/10/10/ in The Mancunion

  Having already shot various scenes in and around London, the irony that a film entitled Captain America: The First Avenger is being primarily shot in England, will not have been lost on the Hollywood crew. As they leave Manchester on the 3^rd October to continue filming in Liverpool, they leave behind them a whirlwind of press, tourists and police tape. 

  The latest in a long line of releases from the god that is Marvel Studios, Captain America joins both Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk as a member of the burgeoning ‘Avengers crew’, (a superhero ensemble film that is currently planned for a 2012 release). Despite the fact that details are being kept strictly under-wraps, it is likely that, as with most superhero films, the plot will centre around the character’s origin story; Steve Roger’s transition into the famed Captain America.

  Starring Hollywood heavyweights Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson, as well as involvement from prolific director Joss Whedon, this is something of a coup for a city that has, in recent year, played host to the filming of Sherlock Holmes and Alfie. Parts of the Northern Quarter will be substituted for New York during what is thought to be one of the films main action sequences.

This marks the first time that Marvel Studios have chosen to shoot a film outside of the United States, with Manchester’s famed Northern Quarter being chosen for its abundance of statuesque, pre-war architecture. The final total of footage from the crew’s time aound Dale Street is expected to amount to no longer than a few minutes in the film’s final cut, yet the area was, within a matter of days, transformed from a vintage haven to 1940’s Manhattan before filming began on what quickly became a closed set. Those lucky enough to bear witness to the areas drastic and dramatic make-over talked of ‘40s style shop fronts, while others strained against police barricades, desperate to sneak a peek.

  While Marvel Entertainment merged with the Disney Corporation in 2009, this film is part of the comic book company’s five picture deal with Universal Studios; a deal that includes not only both of the Iron Man films but the upcoming Avengers flick. Although it is not clear what is going to happen to Marvels intellectual properties beyond expiry of this deal, the shooting of such a high profile film in Manchester can only mean good things for the city.