Why John Krasinski is Perfect for CAPTAIN AMERICA

There seem to be a lot of people turned off by the fact that The Office'sJohn Krasinski is one of the main contenders to take on the role of Steve Rogers, A.K.A. Captain America, in the new film being developed by Marvel and director Joe Johnston, but personally I think the guy is a great choice for the role. It’s not like it’s any surprise that he’s in the running. Johnston has said that this isn’t going to be the Captain America we would expect. And you have to remember that the story of Captain America isn’t one about a good looking buff guy. Captain America came from very humble beginnings.

There’s no reason that Krasinski shouldn’t play the role of Steve Rogers, and here’s why. The guy has an All-American look of a normal guy. There’s nothing special about him, he’s a guy that looks like he could have lived a very isolated life, was picked on growing up, and was never taken seriously. If you throw a buff good looking guy into the role of Steve Rogers his background story doesn’t really fit the type of kid Steve Rogers was, he wasn’t good looking and he wasn’t buff. Captain America is about a scrawny unpopular kid who wants to prove himself. Now if any other studio was making this movie they would be looking at a bunch of A-List actors that look pretty but don’t carry the soul and weight of who Captain America is. Krasinski radiates this boyish innocence that needs to be portrayed on screen for us to believe why he ends up doing the things he does, and why he becomes Captain America.

I’ve been thinking about this since the news broke and at this point I would be disappointed if John Krasinski wasn’t cast in this film. After all the descriptions provided about Captain America and as a huge fan of the character, I think he fits everything they are looking for. I would definitely choose him over the other contenders for the part which includes Mike Vogel (Cloverfield), Scott Porter (Caprica,Speed Racer), Michael Cassidy (Smallville), Patrick Flueger (Brothers), Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl) and Garret Hedlund (Tron Legacy). 

I just think the rest of these actors are missing something. Sure, they might be better looking, but like I said, Steve Rogers wasn’t a good looking kid! He wasn’t a superhero! He was a wimpy below average guy that just wanted to fight for his country, and he was transformed into Captain America. I don’t think the super-soldier serum came with facial reconstruction surgery. Captain America still looks like Steve Rogers he’s just in much better physical condition. So they need to take this scrawny homely guy and turn him into a superhero. John Kasinski is Steve Rogers and this is what would happen if Krasinski was given the serum.

Here is a background description of Captain America read it and tell me Krasinski doesn’t fit this part.

Steve Rogers was born on July 4, 1917 in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, to Irish immigrants Sarah and Joseph Rogers. Joseph Rogers died when Steve was only a child and his mother, Sarah, died of pneumonia while Steve was a teen. By early 1940, before America's entry into World War II, Rogers is a tall but scrawny fine arts student specializing in illustration. Disturbed by the rise of the Third Reich, Rogers attempts to enlist, only to be rejected due to his poor constitution. U.S. Army General Chester Phillips looking for test subjects offers Rogers the chance to serve his country by taking part in a top-secret defense project — Operation: Rebirth, which seeks to develop a means of creating physically superior soldiers. Rogers volunteers for the research and, after a rigorous selection process, is chosen as the first human test subject for the Super-Soldier serum developed by the scientist "Dr. Josef Reinstein," later retroactively changed to a code name for the scientist Abraham Erskine.

If you look at his background, how he grew up and the description of his character Krasinki unquestionably fits the bill.

Now people have brought up the whole physicality aspect of playing Captain America. The GeekTyrant crew and I have discussed several times that the person Marvel casts as Captain America has to be able to show a very obvious physical change, after all Rogers is injected with a super-soldier serum to make him faster and stronger. They need to cast someone who would be adaptable to this change. But we really don’t know how big of a change they are going to make, or how drastic it will be. I seriously doubt they are going to make him ultra buff. If you look at the Captain America from the early comics he had a normal fit build. Captain America doesn’t have to be huge. Look at what was done for the character Blonsky in The Incredible Hulk, after he was injected with the serum he got really cut, but he didn’t get any bigger until after the hardcore injection. He was a normal size guy that was fast and strong as hell. There's no doubt that there will definitely be a physical change for The Captain, but I don’t think it going to be crazy drastic, and it’s not like Krasinski won’t hit the gym to build the body he needs for the character. Look what Christian Bale did for Batman, and Edward Norton did for American History X. Marvel will pay him to get him a trainer to get him in physical shape, so I seriously don’t think that the physicality will be a problem anyway. 

Johnston gave an explanation of what he and Marvel have planned for the film to help put things into perspective. In it, he explains that this is the Captain America origin story and it reveals the type of person they envisioned for The Captain.

It's not going to be a Captain America that you expect. It's something different. It is influenced by the comic book, but it goes off in a completely different direction. It's the origin story of Captain America. It's mostly period—there are modern, present-day bookends on it—but it's basically the story of how Steve Rogers becomes Captain America. The great thing about Captain America is he's a super hero without any super powers. Which is why this story, among the hundreds of super hero stories, appealed to me the most. He can't fly, he can't see through walls, he can't do any of that stuff. He's an every man who's been given this amazing gift of transformation into the perfect specimen—the pinnacle of human perfection. How does that affect him? What does that mean for him emotionally and psychologically? He was this 98-pound weakling, he was this wimp, and he's transformed instantly into this Adonis. You'd think he got everything he wanted. Well, he didn't get everything he wanted. The rules change at that point and his life gets even more complicated and dire. For me, that's the interesting part of the story. It's got some great action sequences in it and some incredible stuff that we've never seen before. But at the heart of it, it's a story about this kid who all he wants to do is fit in. This thing happens and he still doesn't fit in. And he has to prove himself a hero—essentially go AWOL to save a friend.

I think Krasinski is the guy they’ve been looking for all along, and I really hope that he gets the part. I think he would make a great Captain America. On top of all that, he’s a decent actor. This is the guy that will make the Captain America movie grounded in reality and more believable -- which is exactly what I think all of us wanted! I remember hearing all of the complaints when Robert Downey Jr. was cast as Iron Man, now look, everyone loves him in the role!

What are your thoughts on Krasinski being Captain America? Are you still turned off by it?