Captain America: The First Avenger is a 2011 American superhero movie based on the Marvel Comics character Captain America. The movie was produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It’s the fifth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Take a look below for 30 more fun and interesting facts about Captain America: The First Avenger.

1. The movie was directed by Joe Johnston, written by the writing team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and stars Chris Evans as Captain America, alongside Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper, Neal McDonough, Derek Luke and Stanley Tucci.

2. Set predominantly during World War II, the movie tells the story of Steve Rogers, a sickly man from Brooklyn who is transformed into Captain America and must stop the Red Skull, who intends to use an artifact called the “Tesseract” as an energy source for world domination.

3. Captain America: The First Avenger began as a concept in 1997 and as scheduled for distribution by Artisan Entertainment. However, a lawsuit, not settled until September 2003, disrupted the project.

4. The movie was commercially successful, grossing over $370 million worldwide, and received positive reviews, praising the 1940s time period, Joe Johnston’s direction, and Chris Evans’ performance.

5. The Captain America comic book shown in the movies has the cover of the actual Captain America #1, released in 1941.

6. Stanley Tucci took the role of Dr. Erskine, because the role enabled him to use a German accent, which he always wanted to do.

7. Hayley Atwell based her performance as Peggy Carter on Ginger Rogers. She said, “She can do everything Captain America can do, but backwards, and in high heels.”

8. The wall art, hiding the Tesseract at the beginning of the movie, shows the World Tree, the same concept design that Thor shares with Jane Foster in the 2011 movie Thor.

9. Despite being “The First Avenger,” Captain America wasn’t the first Avenger in the comics. In the comics, Ant-Man, Wasp, Hulk, Iron Man and Thor were the first ones. Only after Hulk left the team, Captain America joined the Avengers.

10. To prepare for his role as Bucky, Sebastian Stan watched many World War II movies and documentaries, and drew inspiration from Band of Brothers.

11. Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan are about the same height. A camera trick, and not CGI, made Captain America look much taller than Bucky Barnes.

12. At the Expo, Howard Stark demonstrates his semi-functional “Reversion” technology. It’s an obvious precursor to Tony Stark’s “Repulsors,” perfects for his Iron Man armor.

13. Chris Evans was paid $300,000 to play Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger.

14. The shield that Captain America uses in the early stages of the movie is similar to the one used in the first issue of the Captain America comic books. The shield was changed int he comics, after the publisher of the comic character “The Shield” had complained that Captain America was too similar to their character.

15. Hugo Weaving has gone on record stating that he’s indifferent to the movie, and has very little interest in reprising his role as the Red Skull, due to the difficulty of the make up process involved.

16. During the escape from the HYDRA facility, Dugan and Jones steal a tank. As they drive away, you hear Dugan exclaim, “Wahoo!” In the comics, this is the battle cry of the Howling Commandos, of which both men are members.

17. Hugo Weaving based the Red Skull’s accent on renowned German filmmaker Werner Herzog and Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer.

18. Joe Simon, who created the Captain America comic in 1941, before Stan Lee revived it in 1964, was approached to make a cameo appearance in the movie.

19. Unlike some of his other fellow actors who play parts in the movie, Chris Evans didn’t have to audition for the role of Captain America, since the filmmakers were desperate to have him play the part.

20. Throughout the movie, Steve uses a side arm while fighting Red Skull’s forces. In the comics, he used a side arm until realizing that his new shield, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt gives him, could be used as a weapon by throwing it.

21. Captain America: The First Avenger is the final Paramount Pictures movie produced with Marvel Studios as Disney bought the rights to The Avengers and Iron Man 3.

22. The villain’s name Johann Schmidt is basically a German translation of the English name John Smith, a popular stock name and alias in English and U.S. pop culture.

23. While Abraham Erskine is still a German defector, the movie adds the additional twist that before defecting, he was forced to test the serum in Germany on Johann Schmidt.

24. During Captain America’s war bond drive, the tank burning in the background of the black and white film is an M5 Stuart tank painted with German insignia. This is correct to 1940’s Hollywood film making, as they had no actual German tanks, so they’d paint U.S. vehicles with German signs.

25. Alice Eve, Gemma Arterton and Keira Knightley were considered for the role of Peggy Carter. Emily Blunt turned down the role.

26. Up until a very late stage in pre-production, HYDRA would have been a blatantly Nazi paramilitary organization, with swastikas on their uniform. The implication is still present in the final version. However, deleted scenes also had HYDRA explicitly attacking Nazis in addition to Allied powers.

27. Sebastian Stan was considered for the role of Captain America, but got the role of Bucky instead.

28. Reb Brown and Matt Salinger, who both portrayed Captain America in previous adaptations, separately contacted producers for the opportunity to make cameos in the movie.

29. To prepare for her role as Peggy Carter, Hayley Atwell trained six days a week.

30. Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance as a general. The officer sitting next to him is played by Reb Brown, who played Captain America in a pair of made-for-TV movies in 1979.