Director Joe Johnston, whose credits include “Hidalgo” and “Jurrasic Park III”, and the upcoming remake of “The Wolfman” starring Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, has been tapped to direct Marvel Studios’ much-anticipated “First Avenger: Captain America” movie, detailing the story of the star-spangled shield-wielding WWII hero. Johnston has been in talks with Marvel since 2006 about the project according to The Hollywood Reporter, though talks of the project only began to actively circulate after the release of Marvel’s blockbuster summer smash “Iron Man”, starring Robert Downey, Jr.

“First Avenger: Captain America” will be one of the Marvel Studios titles that are all leading towards the anticipated 2011 release of Marvel’s “Avengers” movie, detailing the origin and first adventure of the legendary Marvel superhero team that originally appeared in 1963.

Captain America, created by Joe Simon and the legendary Jack Kirby in 1941, first appeared in 1941. He is the alternate identity of Steve Rodgers, a sickly young man who is endowed with peak human speed, agility, and strength by the US Military to become a super-soldier to fight in WWII. Clad in a red, white, and blue costume and wielding a throwing shield, he fights through the war and ends up in suspended animation before being revived in the present, where he continues to fight for justice. The character or Rodgers was killed in “Captain America” volume 5 issue 25 last year, though the title has continued on a critically-acclaimed run that saw Rodgers’ former sidekick Bucky Barnes taking up the mantle of Captain America.

“First Avenger: Captain America” is scheduled for release May 6, 2011.

Stay tuned to Toxic Shock for more Marvel news.

By Costa Koutsoutis, (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)