Rumor around the Hollywood water cooler is that Will Smith will be tapped to play Captain America in the Marvel moviefication of the comic book character. This is supposed to be, like, giant, groundbreaking news for us all as Americans because the original Captain America was white. I mean super white. Lily white. So white that if he went naked to Puffy’s Hamptons White Party they’d let him in because he was just that remarkably white. Which makes perfect sense since the character debuted in 1941, when the idea of a black superhero was incomprehensible.
In reality it’s not so remarkable because Will Smith has been saving the world in films since 1996’s “Independence Day” — the man literally never goes more than two films between returning to play a character who saves the world from destruction. Casting him as Captain America is not only a super obvious choice but it makes massive box office sense since “Hancock” and “I Am Legend” made hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide.
So, we at The Playlist offer two questions about this news. The first is: do people really want to see Will Smith in particular save the world or do they just enjoy movies where the world gets saved? The adrenaline rush of watching everything tumble to the brink of destruction might be the real box office gold, so let’s hope that makes it into the Captain America script along with a lot of flag waving. It’ll be like they made “Independence Day 2: Electric Boogaloo.”
Second: according to MTV this rumor is now being perpetrated by Derek Luke, who is in the forthcoming Spike Lee movie “Miracle at St. Anna” but prior to that is probably best known for his role as Boobie in the movie version of “Friday Night Lights.” Exactly how does he know? Is he being considered for an enemy of Captain America role?