Captain America: The First Avenger
Netflix | Amazon | Redbox | Google Play | iTunes | SEN | Vudu | Xbox | YouTube
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Joe Johnston
Starring Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones, Sebastian Stan, Hugo Weaving, Toby Jones, Dominic Cooper, Jenna Louise-Coleman
Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures
Originally Released: July 19, 2011

What better way for geeks to celebrate this national holiday than to kick back with a few cold ones and watch the personification of the USA in the Marvel Universe: Captain America: The First Avenger.

And honestly, good ol’ Cap is more important in Marvel than you think. Sure, he leads The Avengers; but Marvel’s most popular heroes, such as Spider-Man, Wolverine, Deadpool, and now Iron Man thanks to Robert Downey Jr., tend to eclipse the important responsibility Captain America has played to the evolution of the Marvel Universe.

Captain America is the personification, not of the United States, but instead for which it stands. I’m not talking about liberty or justice or freedom or patriotism. I’m speaking about people – it’s the people that make this nation so special. And Cap personifies that element, that deep down, we all have the potential to be good people; and that it is not our abilities that make us who we are, but the choices we make.

If you’re a die hard devotee of all things pertaining to Star Wars then it might be common knowledge to you that when the saga’s iconic bounty hunting scumbag Boba Fett was first introduced (in live-action form) in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, his stylish multi-colored armor was originally intended to be an all-white ensemble, as envisioned by conceptual artist Joe Johnston.

The white variant of the costume was never used, but in 1978 prior to the commencement of principal photography on Empire, Johnston’s original design was briefly brought to life in a rare black and white screen test. You can watch a five-minute video excerpt from that test and see some images here below.

Yesterday we reported that Disney and Lucasfilm were ramping up their long-term grand plans for Star Wars with the announcement that they would be developing a series of movies set apart from Episode VII and on that would focus on individual characters from the Star Wars universe, including a possible Yoda movie.

Entertainment Weekly today broke an exclusive addendum to that revelation with the news that both Han Solo, the roguish but lovable space smuggler that helped make Harrison Ford a star in the original Star Wars movies, and Boba Fett, the masked intergalactic bounty hunter who had little screen time in the original trilogy but has since become a huge fan favorite character, might also be headlining their own standalone movies.

With The Avengers set for release a little over a month from now Marvel Studios has good reason to celebrate. A decade ago the idea of getting Earth’s mightiest heroes together in one movie was laughable given that the film rights to the various characters were owned by different Hollywood studios who weren’t exactly receptive to the idea of a collaboration that would force them to share the potential wealth with their Tinseltown rivals. It wasn’t until Marvel formed their own movie division and started financing blockbusters like Iron Man and Thor that the company could finally take control of their celluloid destiny.

The digital movie rental deal of the day over at Amazon today is the Chris Evans-starring superhero film Captain America: The First Avenger for only $.99.

Once you activate the rental through Amazon’s Instant Demand service, you’ll have access to the movie for 48 hours. If you’re interested in purchasing the digital version, the cost is $14.99.

Also, if you’d like to own a physical copy of Captain America: The First Avenger, the Blu-ray/DVD Combo is $24.99 and the DVD is $16.69.