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CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER is easily my most-anticipated film of 2011… not just because this year represents the 70th anniversary of the classic Marvel superhero, and not just because the film represents a return to comic book movies for director Joe Johnston (who previously helmed THE ROCKETEER), but mainly because Cap has always been my favorite of the Marvel heroes. Most of the advertising and trailers have already been fairly pleasing to me, though we’ve yet to see more than a teaser theatrical poster. Don’t get me wrong, I like that one-sheet, I just keep hoping we’ll see an epic “final” version. Sadly, knowing Hollywood, the next version will be some floating Photoshop heads thrown together with a colorful logo. See IRON MAN and IRON MAN 2 advertising if you doubt me. Thankfully we got something rather cool sent our way today, in the form of a “crew” poster for CAPTAIN AMERICA, featuring art by comic artist Paolo Rivera, who revealed some details about the project on his blog:

Late last year, I had asked Marvel if they would consider a painted approach for any of their upcoming movies. To prove I was up to the task, I did a Captain America poster “on spec” (which was later used as the cover to a movie tie-in comic). As it turned out, the job was already taken, but they liked my work well enough to commission a “vintage” poster that would be given as a gift to the entire cast and crew.

The prints, limited to 100 or so, were reproduced at actual size. Even Stan Lee got one! I was given access to a vast collection of production stills—each emblazoned with a watermark pattern of my name—from which I selected my favorites. All of the lettering is hand-drawn, with the exception of the small credits at the top and bottom (I ran out of steam). While I did some post-production work in Photoshop, the original looks more or less like what you see here. You’ll have to wait until I finish Daredevil #3 before I share some of the behind-the-scenes material, but the “Hitler getting punched” reference will be well worth the wait.

So yeah, as cool as it is, that’s probably the closest most of you will get to having one on display in your home, seeing as how there’s currently no plans to make a mass market version. Such a shame. I love how evocative this poster is of classic Hollywood advertising. Check out some of the good old days of movie posters, such as this SUPERMAN promo piece from 1948:

or this DICK TRACY poster from 1945:

If you ask me, this is what comic book movie posters SHOULD look like. The whole discussion about illustrated posters going away is something best saved for another time, but something I am passionate about. Oh, and it should be noted that Paolo was already getting himself in the mindset of the Cap movie back in 2010. Check out this character study based on the Entertainment Weekly cover:

You can see more of Paolo Rivera’s work at his official blog.

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