REUTERS: "Captain America" recruits director

"Jurassic Park III" director Joe Johnston has signed a deal to bring the Marvel comic-book hero Captain America to the big screen.

"First Avenger: Captain America," a World War II-set movie, is scheduled for release in 2011 through Marvel Studios. No writers are on board, but the studio expects to hire shortly.

Created in 1941 by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon for Timely Comics, Captain America is the heroic alter ego of Steve Rogers, who is rejected by the Army for being too sickly and undergoes an experiment that takes him to the pinnacle of human form. Paired with an indestructible shield, he became a symbol of the war effort, in and out of comics. .

The character disappeared in the 1950s but was revived during the early era of Marvel Comics. He was reintroduced as part of the all-star Avengers lineup, the absence explained by having him being in a state of suspended animation during a war mission until found by the superteam.

The character's last live-action appearance was in 1990's "Captain America," a cheap indie production that ended up going to straight to video. The movie starred Matt Salinger as the hero, dethawed in modern times to fight his archnemesis, the Red Skull.

Johnston first met with Marvel two years ago. When the two parties clicked, general talks turned into Captain America-specific meetings, with much of the project's current direction resulting from those early conversations.

Kicking off with "Iron Man," Marvel Studios' slate of movies -- including "Thor" and the "Iron Man" sequel -- is building toward an "Avengers" movie set for release in 2011, in which the characters from the films team for one big adventure.

Johnston is in post-production on Universal's retelling of "The Wolfman," starring Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins.

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