 Variety reported in March 2010 that Chris Evans was cast as Captain America and Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull ; Marvel Studios confirmed the latter in May . Ryan Phillippe and John Krasinski were also considered for the role of Captain America . In April 2010 , Sebastian Stan , who had been mentioned in media accounts as a possibility for the title role , was cast as Bucky Barnes . Stan is contracted for multiple films . Also in April , Marvel announced that Hayley Atwell had been cast as Peggy Carter , and that the film 's name had been changed from The First Avenger : Captain America to Captain America : The First Avenger . The next day it was reported that Joss Whedon would be rewriting the script as part of his negotiation to write and direct The Avengers . Whedon said in August , " I just got to make some character connections . The structure of the thing was really tight and I loved it , but there were a couple of opportunities to find his voice a little bit — and some of the other characters ' — and make the connections so that you understood exactly why he wanted to be who he wanted to be . And progressing through the script to flesh it out a little bit " . Samuel L. Jackson revealed in an interview that he would reprise his role as Nick Fury in the film . 
