 In December 2009 , director Joe Johnston indicated that he planned to start filming in April 2010 . In a separate interview that month , he described the film 's pre @-@ production : " Rick Heinrichs is production @-@ designing and we 're set up down in Manhattan Beach , California . ... We have eight or ten really talented artists , and we all just sit around all day and draw pictures and say , ' Hey , wouldn 't it be cool if we could do this ? ' It 's that phase of the production where money doesn 't matter : ' Let 's put all the greatest stuff up on the wall and [ then later ] see what we can afford . ' " The film , he said , will begin " in 1942 , 1943 " during World War II . " The stuff in the ' 60s and ' 70s [ comic books ] we 're sort of avoiding . We 're going back to the ' 40s , and then forward to what they 're doing with Captain America now . " In February 2010 , Johnston stated that the Invaders will appear in " the entire second half " of the film , leading fans to speculate this was the World War II @-@ era Marvel superhero team of that name , and in November Johnston refuted speculation that the Sub @-@ Mariner , an Invaders team @-@ member in the comics , would be included . Johnston later explained that " the Invaders " had been discussed simply as a possible name for the squad of commandos Captain America leads in the film . Christopher Markus , one of the screenwriters , said the unnamed group was " called the Howling Commandos in the script , but no one says that out loud . " 
