Behind-The-Scenes Facts From 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' That Demand A Rewatch

An important scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier features Nick Fury and Captain America talking about preparing for the worst. To illustrate his point of view, Fury tells the tale of his grandfather. He explains he worked as an elevator operator, and every day, he carried a sack of money and a gun. It's an interesting story that perfectly summarizes Fury's point of view, but it also hit close to home for Samuel L. Jackson.

Jackson has spoken about the scene, revealing the story is remarkably similar to his experiences with his own grandfather. He related his memories of his grandfather in an interview, saying, "He actually ran an elevator in a hotel in Chattanooga, Tenn. That was his job. I used to go down there and sit in the elevator with him while he took people up and down. He got tipped that way and had money in his pocket or in a bag."

What's even more fascinating is the fact he never spoke with the writers about the story. He imagined they might have read an earlier interview where he mentioned it, but other than that, it may have been entirely coincidental because nothing in that scene was improvised.

All comic book movies are jam-packed with Easter eggs. These are typically references to the comics when a more direct or overt reference to something isn't practical. It's a way of honoring the source material and the fans who helped get the movie made in the first place. Still, not every Easter egg in a movie is related to the source material, and the best one in Captain America: The Winter Soldier has nothing to do with the comics.

When the main characters are standing over Nick Fury's (empty) grave, his tombstone features an epitaph that has nothing to do with the comics but has everything to do with Samuel L. Jackson. It reads, "The path of the righteous man..." Anyone who has seen Pulp Fiction knows this is a reference to his character's favorite Bible passage, which he recites before shooting a man in a chair. 

Movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are always kept quiet to try and keep spoilers from leaking out to the press. Inevitably, this happens despite all efforts, so every movie tends to have a bit more security to try and keep it from happening. When Captain America: The Winter Soldier was in development, steps were taken to not only keep the return of Bucky Barnes under wraps, but the filmmakers also considered removing "The Winter Soldier" from the title altogether.

In an interview with Hero Complex, director Anthony Russo explained that "At first 'The Winter Soldier' wasn't in the title of the film and we were really passionate about calling it Captain America: The Winter Soldier." One of the steps the studio took early in the film's development to keep the Winter Soldier aspect away from prying eyes was to shoot it under the production title of "Freezerburn."

Since 2008, landing a role in an MCU film has been on the "to-do" list of many actors. The franchise has afforded numerous actors high-profile work for several years, and while appearing in one film doesn't guarantee you'll appear in any others, there's a good chance that will happen. Pretty much anyone looking for work in the industry knows this, so when it comes time to cast a character or two, you can bet people are calling their agents, and vice-versa.

The role of Sharon Carter was relatively small in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but it wasn't unimportant. Emily VanCamp ended up being cast in the role, and she made it her own. That said, she had some stiff competition in the form of Jessica Brown Findlay, Felicity Jones, Alison Brie, and Emilia Clarke. Since appearing in The Winter Soldier, VanCamp has returned to play Carter, AKA Agent 13, in Captain America: Civil War, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and What If...? Her appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier hinted she'd be back again, and VanCamp will likely continue playing her for a long time.

One of the biggest surprises in Captain America: The Winter Soldier comes with the revelation that Dr. Arnim Zola was "alive" and behind the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the sustainment of Hydra. He appears in the form of an artificial intelligence system built into an archaic computer system from the 1960s. Most viewers likely didn't expect to see Zola again... unless he was built into the stomach of a large robot, but that concept from the comics only made it as far as a blueprint in a scene from Captain America: The First Avenger.

The dialogue settled on by the Russos wasn't their first, fifth, or 20th version, and according to Joe Russo's words to Empire, it was a tough decision:

That scene was a big problem actually, we spent months on that. We probably only finished that scene two weeks ago. That final draft of what Zola said… it maybe changed 30 or 40 times. You’re in this grounded espionage paranoid thriller - all handheld cameras, Cap feels more ‘real world’ - and then suddenly the movie screeches to a halt and you switch gears really quickly with this ghost in the machine. A character in a computer, in a basement.

If you enjoyed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, you can thank Mr. Ed Brubaker. He's the writer who wrote "The Winter Soldier" arc in Captain America Vol. 5. He teamed up with artist Steve Epting to reintroduce a long-deceased character, Bucky Barnes. Long before the 21st century, Bucky Barnes was the teenage sidekick of Captain America. He fought alongside him during World War II but faded into obscurity as the Silver Age of Comics began.

Brubaker and Epting resurrected Bucky, aged him up considerably, ripped off his arm, and transformed him into the Winter Soldier. The storyline was the basis for most of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Brubaker was honored in the movie in a fun way. He played a cameo role in a scene with Robert Redford. The scene involves Bucky being "reprogrammed" by the Winter Soldier program. Brubaker told USA Today he "read the script, and I was really blown away by it. The tone of it and the Bucky stuff is so perfect and the way I'd want it to be."