Everything We Know About Captain America

2011 is going to be a huge year for comic book movies. This summer will play host to no less than four big-budget superhero epics. For many moviegoers, the most intriguing of these new projects is Captain America: The First Avenger. Cap's name is familiar to even the comic book ignorant, but few know much about him beyond the fact that he wields a mighty shield. It doesn't help that this project has been shrouded in secrecy, with images and a teaser trailer only recently leaking out.

Fans will have to wait until July 22 to see Cap hit the big screen. Luckily, at this point, we do know quite a bit about what Captain America: The First Avenger will have to offer. In this feature we break down the cast, the plot, and what we hope to see from this highly anticipated movie.

Be sure to let us know how you think Captain America is shaping up so far and what you're hoping to see in the movie by posting in the comments section below.

Barring any last-minute announcements or surprise cameo appearances, fans now know the full roster of characters for Captain America.

Captain America: The Sentinel of Liberty himself, Chris Evans will play both the frail, sickly Steve Rogers and his empowered alter ego Cap. The film follows Rogers' induction into the secretive Project: Rebirth and his time served in the battlefields of WWII.

Rogers starts out as a man who simply wants to serve his country, but he's soon faced with the responsibility of acting as an idol and a role model to millions. And by the end, he'll wind up frozen in ice and become a man out of time. That's a lot for one simple soldier to handle.

Bucky Barnes: Joining Cap will be his closest friend and ally, Bucky, played by Sebastian Stan. Unlike the classic interpretation of Bucky as a traditional teenage sidekick, Stan's Bucky is a hardened soldier in his own right and closer in age to Cap.

Bucky isn't a super-soldier like Cap, but he should have no trouble racking up the Nazi kills, with the character carrying over some of his sniper talents from the comics into the movie. However subtly, look for this movie to begin building towards Bucky's eventual transformation into the Winter Soldier.

Cap will have many other allies on and off the battlefield. The Howling Commandos can be seen fighting alongside Cap and Bucky in the first trailer. These elite Army Rangers are led by Dum Dum Dugan (Neal McDonough), a former circus strongman-turned-soldier. We don't know the exact lineup of the Howling Commandos in this movie. From all appearances they won't be following Nick Fury as they did in the comics. Fury's presence seems confined only to the modern-day sequences of the film, which bookend First Avenger.

Other Howling Commandos that have been glimpsed in the trailer include Percival Pinkerton (J.J. Feild), notable by his trademark beret, and Jim Morita (Kenneth Choi), a Japanese-American soldier who encounters plenty of racism during his military service.

Interestingly, rumors suggest Feild's character may actually be Union Jack, a sort of British equivalent of Captain America and a member of the superhero team known as The Invaders. We have no idea how seriously to take this rumor, but could the film be combining the Howling Commandos and the Invaders into one unit?

Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) serves as Cap's love interest as well as a fellow soldier and freedom fighter. Carter is a British operative who appears to be affiliated with Project: Rebirth in some form.

Carter's role in this movie suggests the character Sharon Carter will appear at some point in these Marvel Studios movies. Sharon is the grand niece of Peggy. Her strong resemblance to her older relative proves to be an attraction to Cap, who latches onto her in the present day after the rest of his familiar world has vanished.

In the laboratories of Project Rebirth, Cap will be joined by Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), the inventor of the Super-Soldier Serum. This ex-Nazi scientist defected from Hitler's regime and brought his knowledge of biochemistry and genetics to work for the US.

Erskine's insistence on keeping all vital information about the Super-Soldier Serum inside his head rather than on paper proves to be disastrous for Project: rebirth. Following Erskine's inevitable assassination, Cap will be the only successful product of the program.

Col. Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) is the man who recruits Steve Rogers into Project: rebirth. In the comics, Steve is pulled aside after being rejected by an army recruiter. However, we've seen that Steve makes it as far as boot camp in this film, so clearly Phillips finds something in the frail young man that makes him a viable candidate for the Super-Soldier Serum.

Howard Stark returns in a younger form in this film. Putting his family's talent for weapons design at the disposal of the military, Stark will be responsible for designing Cap's combat fatigues and possibly his shield as well.

As is only proper, Cap's primary villain in this movie will be Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). Skull serves as Hitler's head of advanced weaponry, though he has his own plans for world domination that don't involve the Nazi's. Skull is also the leader of the terrorist group HYDRA, a frequent thorn in the side of many Marvel heroes.

Two supporting villains have also been revealed. Arnim Zola (Toby Jones) is a biochemist who works for Red Skull. In the comics, Zola also digitizes his consciousness and transfers it inside a robotic shell. (Wondering if they will do this in the movie makes us also wonder how the hell they can do it and keep a straight face.) Heinz Kruger (Richard Armitage) is Skull's top assassin who is dispatched to put an end to Project: Rebirth before it can get off the ground.

Captain America: The First Avenger is directed by Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Jurassic Park III). Filming is complete and post-production begun late in 2010. With the recent debuts of the firs theatrical poster and first TV spot in recent weeks, it looks like the film is right on track for its July 22, 2011 release date.