Captain America: The First Avenger favorite superhero as a child because "my dad told me I could one day be Captain America". Joe Johnston met with Marvel to discuss directing the film. "Captain America" was put on hold during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. However, in January 2008, Marvel Entertainment reached an interim comprehensive agreement with the Writers Guild of America that would put writers immediately back to work on various projects that were under the company's development. On May 5, 2008 (after the success of "Iron Man"), Marvel announced the film "The First Avenger: Captain America" (the working title) for release in
Captain America: The First Avenger or actual vehicles from the period were used as inspiration. Daniel Simon, who was previously responsible for many vehicle designs in "", was appointed Lead Vehicle Designer. Director Johnston cited Simon's book "Cosmic Motors" as a reason to trust his influence, saying "he's sort of the guy I wanted to be when I was designing stuff for "Star Wars"". The Red Skull's car, for instance, was based on two Mercedes-Benz vehicles from the 1930s, the 540K and the G4. "Variety" reported in March 2010 that Chris Evans was cast as Captain America and Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull; Marvel