Who’s Who in ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’

As the grand opening of Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” draws near, let’s take a quick update on returning characters and get acquainted with those being introduced in the new film.

STEVE ROGERS aka CAPTAIN AMERICA (Chris Evans). After a top secret Super-Soldier program transformed Steve Rogers into the powerful and heroic Captain America, his amazing WWII exploits made him a living legend, but after awakening in present day following being frozen in ice for decades, Steve found himself alone in a modern world that he hardly recognized. Nevertheless, he quickly suited up as Captain America to help The Avengers defend Earth against Loki’s treachery. After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers team, Steve is living a quiet life in Washington, D.C., struggling to adjust to his new life, when he is drawn into a web of intrigue and danger to unmask a powerful but shadowy enemy that threatens to put the world at risk.

NATASHA ROMANOFF aka BLACK WIDOW (Scarlett Johansson) is one of the world’s greatest spies and quite possibly the world’s most skilled assassin. After the events in New York with The Avengers, where her specialized weapons and vast repertoire of martial arts skills helped the team defeat the invaders, Black Widow returned to S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters to take on new assignments, only to find herself joining forces with Captain America to expose an ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off assailants sent to silence them at every turn.

SAM WILSON aka FALCON (Anthony Mackie) is an ex-military paratrooper who works with veterans in Washington, D.C. Secretly trained by the military in aerial combat using a specially designed wing pack, Falcon becomes an indispensable ally when he teams up with Captain America and Black Widow to run a danger-filled race to halt an impending threat in its tracks.

NICK FURY (Samuel L. Jackson), the legendary director of the international peacekeeping organization, S.H.I.E.L.D, is back at headquarters in Washington, D.C. following the success of his special team, The Avengers, in repelling an alien invasion of New York City. Now Fury is faced with a hidden enemy that threatens to put the world at risk.

ALEXANDER PIERCE (Robert Redford). A high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and personal friend of Nick Fury, Pierce is respected and politically connected. Often the person who interfaces with prominent world officials, he is polished and well spoken, and presents a credible face to the world on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.

WINTER SOLDIER aka BUCKY BARNES (Sebastian Stan). Steve Rogers’ best friend Bucky Barnes was thought to have died in World War II. However, he resurfaces decades later as the Winter Soldier, a brainwashed, mega-enhanced Super-Soldier doing dirty work for a mysterious organization. The hardened Winter Soldier has no memories of his former identity and that suits him just fine—he is simply a killing machine.

BROCK RUMLOW (Frank Grillo). A highly trained operative on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s counter-terrorism S.T.R.I.K.E team, Rumlow is an excellent soldier and often battles side-by-side with Captain America, for whom he has great respect.

AGENT 13 (Emily VanCamp) is a young, attractive S.H.I.E.L.D agent with skills in martial arts and weapons whose mission is to guard Steve Rogers—and not let him know it. She is guided by a strong moral compass and is not afraid to speak out when her ethics are challenged.

AGENT MARIA HILL (Cobie Smulders) proved her worth and her loyalty to both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury during the events in New York with The Avengers. When she is called to come to Fury’s aid, Hill is drawn into the wide-ranging conspiracy unfolding in Washington, D.C. that has completely entangled both him and Steve Rogers.

Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1941, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is produced by Kevin Feige, p.g.a., directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, from a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, and stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, and Hayley Atwell, with Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is presented by Marvel Studios. The executive producers are Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo, Alan Fine and Stan Lee. The film opens in the Philippines on March 26, 2014, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

In addition to “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Marvel Studios will release a slate of films based on the Marvel characters including “Guardians of the Galaxy” on August 1, 2014; “Avengers: Age of Ultron” on May 1, 2015; and “Ant-Man” on July 17, 2015.