Chapter 806: The Person Captain America Trusts Most

With little fanfare, filming quietly kicked off at Warner Studios. Duke began by shooting scenes featuring Black Widow Natasha Romanoff and Captain America Steve Rogers.

In Captain America, the film only established that Steve Rogers had been rescued from the ice by Natasha Romanoff and Agent Coulson and brought into modern society. Captain America was certainly dedicated to upholding justice, but he wasn't a fool. Even with his former comrade-in-arms Natasha Romanoff around, getting him to work for an organization that had suddenly popped out of nowhere would be no easy task.

Beyond Natasha Romanoff, S.H.I.E.L.D. itself had to earn Captain America's trust.

For the very first shot of the production, Duke filmed the scene addressing exactly this.

The soundstage had been dressed to look like a hospital ward. Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans walked up to the door, and the camera operated by John Schwartzman quietly tracked them along the rails.

"The last time we met, I was a Soviet, but now I've become an American agent..."

On Duke's director's monitor, Scarlett knocked lightly on the door. Turning the knob, she said to Chris Evans, "Steve, you aren't saying it, but I know you have your doubts about me. I'm taking you to see someone. One of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D., and an old friend of ours."

With that, she opened the door and stepped inside. A puzzled Chris Evans followed her in.

"Cut! That's a print."

They had already done two test shots prior to this, so the first take passed smoothly.

Duke shouted toward the set, "Reset the scene! We roll again in fifteen minutes."

The ward was a pre-arranged set. After adjusting the cameras and lighting, another actress, Hailey Atwell, joined the shoot. Unlike her rather stunning look in Captain America, however, she was clearly wearing old-age makeup.

If they wanted to make Steve Rogers trust S.H.I.E.L.D., there was no better candidate than Peggy Carter.

Moreover, Captain America still owed Peggy Carter a dance. Reuniting the two of them after seventy years would also add some appeal to the film.

It took Duke two full days to finish filming the reunion scene between Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter. Afterward, the crew transitioned to the Hughes Aircraft Plant, beginning their shoot on the soundstages there.

The massive soundstage had been dressed as a cluttered workshop. Several cameras were cleverly distributed across the set, busily recording every frame in front of them without interfering with one another. A cameraman wearing a Steadicam rig hid on the other side, ready to grab close-up shots at a moment's notice.

Filming wasn't continuous. The longest take lasted only about ten seconds. Dressed in a sexy outfit, Scarlett Johansson and her two stunt doubles occasionally swapped out to take the stage.

Scarlett was only responsible for showing off her face and sexy figure in front of the camera; almost all the highly difficult fight scenes were handled by her doubles.

After montage processing in post-production, these shots wouldn't have any issues.

Of course, telling them apart wasn't too hard. Any shots where Black Widow wasn't facing the camera or had her face obscured by her hair were essentially done by the stunt performers.

To be precise, there were shots that required Scarlett to do the action herself, but not many.

"Many of the CG shots already have their rough drafts completed."

Once shooting paused for a moment, Kevin Feige sought out Duke.

Updating him on the film's visual effects progress, he said, "The location crew led by Anna Printz has also set out. Additionally, the California State Government is quite pleased that the production could stay in Los Angeles to film, and they've offered us a nine percent tax rebate."

Like many states in America, California had begun adjusting its film industry policies to reverse the steady exodus of Hollywood productions. Not only were there relevant subsidies available, but big-budget films could also receive a certain amount in tax rebates.

After a brief chat with Kevin Feige, Duke sent him off to find Charles Roven. Having them handle the miscellaneous chores was enough; he needed to keep most of his focus on filming.

Today's main focus was filming Black Widow Natasha Romanoff's scenes. Having finished the complex fight choreography, Scarlett moved on to the relatively easier dialogue scenes.

Wearing black stockings and a matching tight miniskirt, she carried her high heels in one hand and a sponsor-provided Mobile Phone in the other. As she walked toward the "outside," a large boom mic dropped down from above to hover near her head.

"Yes, Steve Rogers doesn't trust you! Because you've launched a series of wars that never should have happened, and that doesn't align with the ideals he upholds."

Her words were obviously related to assembling the Avengers.

"Phil, you and Nick Fury should know that Captain America is loyal to this country, not to a specific government or organization, even if that organization was founded by Peggy Carter!"

"That billionaire doesn't trust me," she said, continuing to walk away. "Phil, you handle the rich guy and the big guy. Leave Steve to me. I'll take him to see Peggy Carter."

"Cut!"

Sitting behind the director's monitor, Duke called for a halt.

"Move to Soundstage 3," he announced. "Tell Chris to get ready."

This was filmmaking. A set that took over ten days to build came to a natural end after less than a day of shooting. The entire filming process was simply burning through money.

In the makeup trailer, aside from the routine makeup to make his look better fit the character of Steve Rogers, a member of the action choreography team also came over to wrap thick bandages around Chris Evans's hands.

He stepped out of the makeup trailer and turned into the adjacent, slightly smaller soundstage. It had been dressed as an old-fashioned training gym—the exact facility where Steve Rogers trained every day after waking up from his frozen state.

Having fully grasped everything that had happened since World War II, he felt the American government's actions didn't align with his ideals; in some aspects, they had even become the very people he had once sworn to destroy. Even toward S.H.I.E.L.D., which had saved his life, Steve Rogers harbored little trust. Relatively speaking, Natasha Romanoff, who had fought alongside him and experienced life-and-death trials back in the day, was one of the few people he could partially trust.

The scene here wasn't too difficult for the current Chris Evans. After listening to Director Duke give a brief rundown of the blocking and a few minor issues to watch out for, he took his place in front of the punching bag.

"Scene twelve, take one, action!"

After the clapper loader's voice rang out, Chris Evans began pounding the hanging punching bag in front of him like a professional boxer, producing heavy thuds. This wasn't fake fighting; he was hitting it with real force. Even with his hands wrapped in bandages, he could still faintly feel the pain.

After filming a few segments of him hitting the heavy bag, the crew swapped it out for a hollow one. Chris Evans threw a few punches at this cheap imitation before landing a vicious straight punch on it. At the same moment, the catapult mechanism on the other side activated, sending the punching bag flying backward like a fallen leaf blown away by a gale.

"Okay!"

These filmed shots looked quite ordinary and mundane; they had to go through post-production before they could become outstanding cinematic visuals.

Duke's voice rang out from the megaphone again.

"Where's Scarlett Johansson?"

Next, it was time for the scene between Black Widow and Captain America.

"Why do I always get the feeling that Marvel's writers..." Scarlett said softly to Duke as she walked over to the director's chair, noticing the crew still busily arranging the lighting and props. "...want to pair Black Widow and Captain America up as a couple?"

"Because audiences like to watch the interactions between superheroes," Duke said without looking up, "especially two ninety-year-old superhero senior citizens, one male and one female."

"But don't you think it's weird for two ninety-year-olds to be dating?" Scarlett was clearly using the chat to relax.

Duke replied by directly quoting Black Widow's lines, "Which is why romance is for children. Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff share a much more complex relationship—a mix of comrades-in-arms, colleagues, and friends who have been through life and death together."

He glanced at the crew's progress and added, "You should go get ready."

Scarlett nodded and walked over to the front of the camera lens.

Once Duke had the clapper loader call for action, Chris Evans dragged a punching bag up from the floor, hung it in the air, and began pounding it once more. Suddenly, a crisp female voice drifted over from the other side.

"Steve, are you suffering from insomnia again?"

Chris Evans stopped what he was doing and looked toward the doorway, where Scarlett Johansson was standing.

"It's been a while, Nat," Chris Evans said, resuming his punches on the heavy bag. "I slept for seventy years. I've had more than enough sleep."

"Then you should get out and see this big, colorful world," Scarlett said, strolling over at a leisurely pace. "Go find a girl. Maybe you'll feel a lot better."

Turning to glance at Scarlett, Chris Evans paused, unwrapped the bandages on his hands, and walked off to the side. "When I went into the water, the world was still at war, but back then we were fighting for justice. I woke up, and people told me we'd won. But all I see is that we've lost even more."

"This country has made quite a few mistakes over the years," Scarlett said, stepping right up across from him. "It made a few recently, too."

"You need me?" Chris Evans asked.

"I need you to save the world," Scarlett said, handing over the file she had been holding. "It's a very serious incident."

"This is Hydra's Secret Weapon," Chris Evans said after just one glance. "It's still around?"

"Still remember Howard Stark?"

After Chris Evans nodded, Scarlett continued, "Howard fished this up from the seabed while he was looking for you. Now, it's been stolen..."

"It never should have been brought up!"

Shouldering his gym bag, Chris Evans headed for the door, with Scarlett following close behind.

"Steve, tomorrow I'm taking you to see someone," she called out.

Chris Evans stopped in his tracks, thought about it for a moment, and said, "Pick me up tomorrow morning. Don't be too late."

"Okay!"

Once Chris Evans walked out the iron door of the gym, Duke's voice rang out through the megaphone, "That's a print!"