THIS PROBABLY ISN'T THE DIRECTOR YOU WANTED FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA

I'd rather see John Milius (seriosuly) tackle this project. He will bring with him the right sense of fascist jingoism this projcet needs.

Cast the perfect Cap and make it a hard pg-13 and you got the movie. I want to see that fucking shield ricochet through an entire nazi battalion.

"Moments of October Sky and The Rocketeer" Fuck off ya pretentious twat. Whats wrong with this choice? Joe makes decent to good films. I can see how he would be a good director for a WW2 Era captain America flick. Russ, you are starting to sound like devin.

I believe Joe Johnston to be an extremely capable director, and The Rocketeer was an amazing influence on my childhood. I think he's the right choice here.

October Sky is an excellent film that I am happy to rewatch. It's pretty much a nerdy science version of a Sports Movie, with a typical excellent performance by Chris Cooper. Talk about underrated.

This is great news! Joe Johnston took the terrible script for Jurassic Park III and made it a decent movie. I watch The Rocketeer (one of the first good comic films and the right tone for Cap) at least once a year. Russ you gotta be kidding me with this post. Johnston may not be A-list but we really don't need that.

I am going to continue the love on Joe Johnston for this job. The Rocketeer alone is enough resume to take the WW2 area cap movie. This is FAR from a bad thing, Joe Johnston doesn't make a whole lota crap and is the perfect strait forward type of director for Marvel's American Boy Scout.

Rocketeer didn't do bang up business for Disney but that doesn't mean the movie didn't work. I enjoyed it not only as a monument to Jennifer Connelly's superhot era, but also as a fun comic book movie.

"Capable" and "decent" summarize Joe Johnston perfectly. Not exciting news. But then Captain America isn't exciting either. What is the appeal of this character?

I'm surprised that anyone likes The Rocketeer. It's a movie with cool aspects that don't come together at all.

Seems like our old friend Mr. Beaks is endorsing Joe Johnson for this one. And CHUD, you are boring me with your predictable hate.

JOHNSTON IS GREAT, A NICE SURPRISE, AND YES THE ROCKETEER IS THE PRIME EXAMPLE OF THE TONE FOR A CAPTN AMERICA MOVIE, VERY PULPISH AND FUN, UP THERE WITH RAIDERS OR MAYBE LAST CRUSADE (CERTAINLY HE WOULD BE THE BEST MAN AFTER SPIELBERG TO TAKE ON INDY hint to new director for indy 5)

I hate to be negative but I'm afraid I have to agree that this is an uninspired choice. The press release talks about him designing characters for Star Wars and storyboarding Raiders of the Lost Ark - yeah, obviously that's cool. To bad you have to go back to his pre-directing career to make him sound exciting. Sure, Rocketeer is fun, but far from a great movie, and also by far his best as a director. Take a look at Hidalgo. Great lead actor, nice adventurous atmosphere, cool story, nice photography... man, I wanted to love it. I could not. It's incredibly boring. Unfortunately Captain America is a more difficult super hero character to pull off than most, and I don't think Johnston's blandness will provide the spark this needs. But oh well, could be worse I guess. But this late in the game it's hard to imagine this guy making his first ever better-than-just-okay movie. Hey, maybe they'll get Viggo for Captain America. He looks more like Dr. Strange, though.

The fuck you peoples want? You really think Scorsese or Spielberg would touch this? You're all gonna go watch it, stop cryin' and suck on a binky or something.

All those who are supporting Joe Johnston obviously have never read any of Ed Brubaker's Captain America. Brubaker is spinning in his future grave right now at this ridiculousness. The only way t do it is go over obvious and film it like Saving Private Ryan with Januscz Kaminski on photography and Brubaker on the script. By the way, Cap shouldn't be pulpish, Brubaker proved it should be hardcore with espionage tones.

Now this is fantastic news. JP3 had its few good moments precisely because of Johnston and I love seeing others praise the underrated gem that was Rocketeer. Would you drink from my Cap as deeply, Joe? Grow some excitement Chud. Cappy's in great hands.

other than pagemaster and MAYBE wolfman, this guy has a solid record that shows he takes his time with films... this will rely on getting a good lead at this point... favreau was not everyone's fave at first and now everyone cant IMAGINE iron man without him....

They can't all be directed by Nolan-who's not infallible himself. Rocketeer was good, Wolfman looks nice, Hidalgo was a bit cheap yeah. Mortensen would have been a great as Cap when younger, Eckhard could maybe still do it.

THIS IS GREAT!!!! No complaints here. A fun and capable choice. Fuck the whiners.

He's fine. It's just Chud living up to their whining fanboy mandate to bitch and moan about everything non-Watchmen related.

Johnston is a fine director, but I think he dropped the ball on The Rocketeer. How does his NOT put Doc Savage in that movie?

Yay!! Joe Johnston is awesome! "Jurassic Park III" should've been garbage, but it's more re-watchable than "Lost World" and even, dare I say, "Jurassic Park" in parts. He's definitely a talented, interesting filmmaker and though I had zero interest in this before (I hate Captain America), I think Johnston will actually deliver the goods.

I'm a sucker for THE ROCKETEER for sure, and think Johnston's a fine fit for a CAPTAIN AMERICA that's set in WWII. Johnston shoots effects and period productions wonderfully, and he knows how to direct action. A fine choice. I know that HIDALGO and JURASSIC PARK III aren't big hits, but I don't think either of those movies were held back by Johnston. It's a relief that Marvel isn't rushing to someone new just for buzz -- I'd rather see the character revived in the AVENGERS movie after a classic, old-school adventure romp in his solo feature.

I dunno... I'm torn. Russ is right that Johnston has made some uneven, serviceable movies (Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, Jumanji, Hidalgo) one bad one (Jurassic Park III -- what's with the love for THIS garbage?) and one great one (The Rocketeer). I can only hope The Wolfman kicks some major ass and show's Johnston has found his inner storyteller and not simply remained a special effects man trapped in a director's body.

I'm thrilled. Johnston is ALWAYS on my shortlist of filmmakers who'd be good for projects like this. He fulfills all the primary requirements: He 'gets' the genre, he knows how to shoot action, he's made good films in this mold before, etc. He's directed six films, all of them good (JP3) to flat-out excellent (Rocketeer) and not ONE of which is as awful as, say, "Transformers." Just remember... the "A-List" directors likely to board a movie like this includes Bay, Ratner and McG - I'd say we're lucking out. What I like best about this idea in regards to THIS character is that Johnston has never been a "message" filmmaker - that alone is reason enough to celebrate. Captain America as a character is such a potentially loaded symbol the temptation to try and "say something" with him is extraordinary and would likely lead to disaster. I'd HATE to see a "right-wing" Cap "putting America back on track" or a "liberal" Cap moping around about disillusionment like that whiny bitch Jason Bourne. A year from now, I get to see a guy in a red white and blue superhero uniform smashing Nazis around with a big-ass shield. AWESOME.

Captain America is a weak property. Johnson is probably about the best they could do. It's not going to be "The Dark Knight". It'll be a family film with a hint of self-referencial satire. The thing about Captain America is that his image and identity are totally cartoonish. But if you take him out of his red, white and blue uniform and change his goofy name, he's no longer Captain America. I'm sure there's some comic fans out there who take their Captain seriously, but you are very much in the minority and a dark, brooding, complex Captain America is going to bomb badly.

brubaker's cap is quite pulpy actually...what with the giant robots and mechanical arms running about. and this is a great choice. i've always liked cap, and i don't think he's a weak property. hes a character with enormous potential...take the best parts from back to the future, the longest day, and the rocketeer and I think you'd have a pretty cool movie

THAT PIC LOOKS LIKE CAP HAS 2 DICKS.

The Rocketeer is hands-down my favorite superhero movie ever. This couldn't be more welcome.

At least they didn't pick Chris Columbus. Or Stephen Sommers.

This is my first time posting here. This news has finally motivated me to post. Johnston is more than qualified to direct captain America, as The rocketeer clearly demonstrates he gets it. A WW2 cap needs to have that pulp feel. It needs to have that indiana Jones "obstacle stacking" schtick. What, the Rocketeers' budget was like, 45 mil?, and look what he accomplished there. Granted JP3 wasn't very good, but it was the script which killed that movie, which Johnston had nothing to do with. He's a great choice. Hopefully he pulls a "Fav".

Wow how can you knock October Sky. I have seen it a ton of times. You have no soul.

I'm glad mostly everyone else feels the same way about Johnston. I think he's a great choice and Jurassic Park III was my favourite film of the series.

Kid's Movie!!!