Who should play Captain America?

Sorry I haven't been around as much as I should be, folks, it's one of those segments of time I warned you about, where there's just too much to do in the office to find time to get on the blog as much as I like.

But I've been wanting to point something out:

You may have heard the rumors that Marvel has an actor in mind for Captain America — Matthew McConaughey.

I don't believe these rumors for a second. For One: Marvel knows their character better than this. If Fox were making the movie, I'd guess the rumor to be true, but this is Marvel. Two: Marvel didn't want such a big name as Robert Downey, Jr. to play Tony Stark, for fear the name would overshadow the character (which Jon Favreau convinced them otherwise), so why would Marvel choose a big name like McConaughey?

No, McConaughey cannot be Steve Rogers. So who will?

Years ago, the rumor was that Brad Pitt wanted to play the role. While I would say he'd be a perfect choice, he's much too big a name for Marvel's tastes. Which would make you think Marvel might want to go the Brandon Routh route of casting a complete unknown, right?

Well, no, I don't think a complete unknown will quite have the mixture of physical look and acting depth that's going to be needed to pulloff a character so potentially hokey and so potentially inspiring at the same time as Captain America. Routh only just barely pulled it off due to his resemblance to Christopher Reeve.

This is going to have to be someone who we've seen before, but never really in a starring role before.

Here's my choice:

Josh Duhamel. You've probably seen him in "Transformers" or "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton" or "Las Vegas" (TV).

They guy has the look of a leader, looks in perfect shape without being too bulky, and also has a very clean-cut look about him that Steve Rogers MUST have. And while we haven't seen him exude the kind of acting chops this role is going to require, I also don't really think he's been put into a position to show what he can do yet.

There you go, my casting selection. Now we'll see if Marvel makes a prudent one and gives us a happy Summer of 2011.