WHOA! Robert Redford in Talks to Star in CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER? [UPDATE]

Robert Redford

Dreamy.

Normally we try to avoid posting news until it is confirmed, but this one was too awesome to pass by.

Deadline is reporting the Hollywood living legend Robert Redford is in talks to join the cast of Captain America: Winter Soldier.

Signing Redford–who iFanboy editors disagree over whether in his younger days would have been perfect for Captain America or Hawkeye–would be quite a coup for Marvel Studios as he is one of the most famous and most respected actors currently alive today. A two time Academy Award winner and honoree, Redford has starred in such films as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, All The President’s Men, Three Days of the Condor, and The Natural.

But who would Redford play? Here are some ideas that we brainstormed in the last 90 seconds:

  • “One of those guys from the stupid TV screens in the Avengers movie.”
  • “A Howling Commando.”
  • “Steve Rogers in an alternate future where he doesn’t get super soldiered.”
  • “General Hawk.”

Update! Deadline says that “Redford is in talks to play a senior leadership role in S.H.I.E.L.D.”

But my personal favorite idea is that Marvel Studios has developed special de-aging technology to shoot a gritty, ’70s style Captain America and Bucky movie:

They will get somebody to talk on the record about the Red Skull.

More on this as it develops.


Comments

  1. Maybe we’ll finally get to see a flashback to Cap’s final tense moments aboard the Red Skull’s plane as it plunges toward the icy ocean below?

    “And here I am, never even learned how to swim,” mutters a grim Cap with a small smile.

    Behind him, a previously unconcscious Hydra agent tugs off his helmet, revealing a surprisingly handsome face. “Don’t worry,” he growls, “the fall will kill you.”

  2. The President.

    • They already have William Sadler appearing as the Pres in Iron Man 3, I think, but yeah, that would have been awesome.

  3. what if he played a bad guy? I mean..could be fascinating to see him go that way. Totally unexpected.

    I’d love to see him in the next Cap movie…one of my favorite actors of all time.

  4. There’s no need for iFanboy editors to disagree, he would have been perfect as Cap OR Hawkeye. He played Sundance, but he could have been Butch and Newman could have been Sundance.

  5. Okay, this might be a little out of left field, but with Redford’s casting, it makes me wonder if we’re going to see a combination of the Winter Soldier story comibined with Bucky’s first arc as Captain America. Redford would make a damn fine movie Commander-in-Chief.

  6. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    The Black Fox!

  7. I usually never comment on rumours either, but this would be most excellent.

    Also, he’d have been perfect for the role if they had went with a white Nick Fury.

  8. Maybe they’re planning on using him in flashbacks as Cold War era Nick Fury. They’ll avoid the whole issue of why he hasn’t aged by making “Nick Fury” a rank and not a person.

    • Isn’t that kind of complicated and elaborate just to have a white Nick Fury? And a little too much like James Bond? Also like that joke in “Secret Avengers #1”?

  9. dammit. now i really want to watch all the president’s men.

  10. This is wonderful news. Big Redford fan. This definitely adds some unnecessary but welcome cred to the movie. I don’t know my Cap canon well enough to speculate who he could be, but I do agree he’d have made a terrific Steve as a younger man.

    If he were a Commando, he’d be Rebel Ralston. No question. The character is drawn as if they had Redford in mind (even though he would’ve been a kid at the time). Same hair. But I would only be excited about that if Marvel Studios were using the real Nick Fury.

    (*cough* Recast Mel Gibson *cough* Don’t tell Sam *cough* He’ll lay vengeance upon you *cough*)

    Whew! Had something in my throat there for a second.

  11. Jay Garrick!

    Nope, sorry, wrong movie

  12. In a surprise twist, The Winter Solider just happens to live Madison County.

    Interesting casting.

  13. I’m guessing a Commando in a flashback sequence. The President is possible, as something could always happen to Sadler’s character in either of the two films prior. Baron Zemo would be fun (especially if we see him team up with Weaving’s Red Skull), but, if you cast Robert Redford in a film, would you have him play a character whose face you never see? If he could do a Russian accent, he could play Larkin (depending on how true they are to the source story . . . ).

  14. Don’t know if its been said or not cause I don’t have time to read all the above comments right now but:

    He’d have made a perfect Cap when Redford was younger so I’m guessing he’s possibly playing a future Cap in a real distant future vision or what he might’ve looked like in a scenario had he not been frozen in ice or aged in any number of scenarios.

  15. Im thinking 616 Nick Fury. Like Cold war nick fury?? Or WW II nick fury (howling commando’s)

  16. I think it’s pretty obvious he is going to play cross bones.

  17. Well this is pretty fucking awesome. Is this the first time a major actor of his caliber is playing in a comic book movie?

    Wait, Peter Fonda did Ghost Rider….Well this is the first GOOD comic book movie is getting a classic actor.

    • Brando in Donner’s Superman.
      Nicholson and Palance in Burton’s Batman.
      Freeman, Oldman, and Hauer in Nolan’s Batman.
      Sheen and Fields in Webb’s Amazing Spiderman.

      Just to name a few.

      He’s not the first, but I agree that it is indeed fucking awesome. 🙂

    • I somehow neglected to mention Walken and Caine in their respective Batman roles.

      I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t make that edit.

    • @WheelHands: I must have been tired and/or drunk. How did I forget them?

      Well I would say Brando, Nicholson, and Palance are in the same caliber as Redford in terms of cinema history.

      Freeman, Oldman, Sheen, and Fields are going to be up there soon but they’re still contemporary legends if you get what I mean.

    • I think I get what ya mean, but Apocalypse Now (Sheen) is ’79 and Smokey and the Bandit (Field) is ’77, which run right alongside Redford’s Condor (’75) and President’s Men (’76). It may not be as early as Butch and Sundance (’69) but the majority of all their work can be considered the same era. Walken did Deer Hunter in ’78 and Hauer did Bladerunner in ’82, so a case could be made for them as well. And around these parts we all know how far Caine goes back, so I won’t even bother listing his stats.

      I’ll give you Freeman and Oldman because, despite being close in age, they weren’t household names until much later in their careers. It’s the same reason I left Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen off the list.

      Gauging the “caliber” of any artist is largely a matter of opinion, but I think we can all agree that the actors mentioned are heavyweights one and all. It easier to break it down generationally, and when you look at it that way they’re all considered peers.

      By the way, I’m not being argumentative. This kinda stuff is fun for me. If there’s one interest that trumps my love of comics, it’s film.

  18. Wouldn’t he be playing Winter Soldier/Bucky in the present day?

  19. 1950s Cap!

  20. Updated the article with info on who Redford is supposedly talking about playing.

  21. What if they are taking from the J.M. DeMatteis story where Red Skull is old and then he Injects Cap. and turns Cap old and Redford is playing the old version of Cap.

  22. I’m guessing he’ll play a grown-up member of the Howling Commandos, like a 70-year-old Dum-Dum Dugan or something.

  23. Avatar photo Jacen Chris (@jcbhatestweeter) says:

    Redford will always be handsome.