 In April 1997 , Marvel was in negotiations with Mark Gordon and Gary Levinsohn to produce Captain America , and Larry Wilson and Leslie Bohem were set to write a script . In May 2000 , Marvel teamed with Artisan Entertainment to help finance the film . However , a lawsuit arose between Marvel Comics and Joe Simon over the ownership of Captain America copyrights , disrupting the development process of the film . The lawsuit was eventually settled in September 2003 . In 2005 , Marvel received a $ 525 million investment from Merrill Lynch , allowing them to independently produce ten films , including Captain America . Paramount Pictures agreed to distribute the film . Originally , the film would stand alone ; producer Kevin Feige said " about half " the movie would be set during World War II before moving into the modern day . Producer Avi Arad said , " The biggest opportunity with Captain America is as a man ' out of time ' , coming back today , looking at our world through the eyes of someone who thought the perfect world was small @-@ town United States . Sixty years go by , and who are we today ? Are we better ? " He cited the Back to the Future trilogy as an influence , and claimed he had " someone in mind to be the star , and definitely someone in mind to be the director " . In February 2006 , Arad hoped to have a summer 2008 theatrical release date . Jon Favreau approached Arad to direct the film as a comedy , but he chose to make Iron Man instead . In April 2006 , David Self was hired to write the script . He explained that Captain America was his favorite superhero as a child because " my dad told me I could one day be Captain America " . Joe Johnston met with Marvel to discuss directing the film . 
