Captain America Casting Race Heats Up: Levi vs. Lutz

Chuck star Zachary Levi and Twilight actor Kellan Lutz throw their hats into the ring in the battle to be cast as Captain America!

It seems like nowadays, everybody wants to star in a comic book movie. We recently heard of such stories as John Cusack vying for a role in Preacher, or Sam Worthington sporting an Avengers t-shirt in an apparent hinting to producers that he would make a fine Steve Rogers. Certainly, even the most respected actors seem to enjoy and want to keep coming back to their comic book roles. Just ask Ian McKellan or Morgan Freeman. Of course, the hottest projects right now seem to be Spider-Man 4, with almost every starlet in Hollywood bying for the role, and Captain America.

Early rumors speculated that megastars like Brad Pitt or Leonardo Decaprio might be cast in the role of Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger. As the movie came closer to production, however, without any major casting announcements, fans began to envision a lesser known actor filling the role. Of course, with the eventual plans of all the non-outsourced Marvel movie properties coming together for an Avengers flick, the actor who plays Avengers leader Captain America will need to be able to hold his own amongst heavyweights like Robert Downey Jr., Edward Norton, Scarlett Johnansson, Natalie Portman, and even Samuel L. Jackson.

Today, we received news of two new candidates in the Captain America casting pool. First was Zachary Levi, star of the TV series Chuck. Levi recently had to back out of a role as Fandral in Thor due to new episodes being added to his Chuck contract. In an interview with TV Guide, Levi had the following to say on the matter:

“Yeah, that was a bummer. There’s no way to slice it. I am Chuck Bartowski in a lot of ways, so to be able to not only be up for a really big movie, but to be up for a really big movie that is a part of the Marvel Universe, that Kenneth Branagh is directing, that Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins are in, you dream about stuff like that."

"It sucked having to let that go, but again, that stuff is out of your hands. I believe that, based on what’s happened, this is where God wants me so you let that go.”

Luckily for fans of Chuck and Marvel, Levi hasn’t given up on a role in one of the upcoming Marvel films though:

“I wish them nothing but the best. I’m sure Stuart Townsend will do a good job. Hopefully Marvel feels bad and are like. ‘You should be Captain America!’ or Bucky at the very least. It definitely was tough to let that go.”

If Levi really is willing to fill the Bucky role instead of Cap, perhaps he would work well alongside Twilight star Kellan Lutz, who also expressed interest in the role in an interview with gossip blog zap2it:

"I’d love to be ‘Captain America’ someday."

Lutz also added a role in Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne franchise to his wishlist, and discussed the possibilities of a Twilight Series. Of course, another Twilight actor, Taylor Lautner, also recently announced his plans to enter the superhero genre in an upcoming adaptation of Max Steel.

Any way you look at it, it’s a great time to be a fan of comic book movies, and this reporter cannot wait to find out who will wield the shield.