'Captain America': 5 Things to Know Before You See the Movie

As movie studios dig deeper into the history of comic book heroes to find their next blockbuster, we get an increasingly obscure set of superheroes as stars. Captain America might be the last big-name hero left on the Marvel side, but how well do you know the star-spangled soldier? Here are a few facts to prepare you for "Captain America: The First Avenger":

1. WWII Origins

Captain America was a product of WWII, as creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby wanted to create a patriotic superhero. In his early days, you could see Cap fighting Axis forces and even punching Hitler straight in the nose. Unfortunately, this also lead to some pretty racist depictions of Japanese soldiers, but that wasn't anything uncommon for the time.

2. Superpowers

Here's the thing about Captain America that separates him from most of the other Marvel heroes: he doesn't really have "superpowers" to speak of. "The good thing about Cap is that most of his abilities are rooted in what a human being is capable of," said Chris Evans, who plays Cap in the movie. "He's not flying, he's not shooting fire." That means that the action sequences are likely to be a little more "Dark Knight" and a little less "Green Lantern." Cap does have an indestructible shield that he likes to throw at enemies' faces, though.

3. Not "Captain America" Everywhere...

Not everyone is as crazy about the red white & blue as we are. In fact, some foreign markets opt to change the titles or taglines of American movies in order to make them less America-centric. One of the taglines for the movie is "Heroes are made in America," but Australian markets have chosen to go instead with "When evil rises, a hero will stand." Russia, China and other countries will go even farther, opting to change the title of the movie.

4. Chris Evans Didn't Want It

Though most would consider this to be the role of a lifetime, Chris Evans wasn't totally gung-ho about it. "I didn't want to do this movie. I said no, I think, three times," said Evans. "I had serious doubts." Why wouldn't he want to be a part of what could be a huge movie franchise? Simple: he's afraid of being trapped. "If these movies do well, I could be playing this guy until I'm 40," said Evans. "What if I want to quit acting? What if I want to move to India?" But Evans changed his mind and agreed to take the role, and feels good about the choice now. We hope.

5. This Isn't the First Movie...

If you tuned into the SyFy channel this week, you may have seen another Captain America movie playing...one that was made in 1990. Before you watch some clips of "Captain America: The First Avenger," feast your eyes on this: