(Warning: General plot outline spoilers contained herein.)

A lot of information on the upcoming Captain America movie has been released over the past few days (Collider has a pretty comprehensive, partially-itemized list of developments). Most of the decisions director Joe Johnston has announced so far sound like they will work well.

The matter of the costume was a big one, as it would seem absurd for any real-life soldier to wear a red, white, and blue American flag uniform on the battlefield, but it would be almost equally strange to see Captain America in a real military uniform. Apparently the writers' take on this (as Johnston told Hero Complex) is that after the American military genetically modifies Steve Rogers into Captain America (during the WWII era), they won't want to send him into battle because he's too valuable, so he'll be a USO performer. Hence, the brightly colored outfit. Eventually, though, he does find himself on the battlefield and after trying to cover up his colors, he discovers that his wearing of the flag helps him to lead. Later, Cap will switch to a darker version of the flag uniform. This way his outfit will be more practical, but he can still utilize its symbolism to lead troops into combat.

This is an adroit handling of the costume concept. The filmmakers are not only giving the character a good reason to wear something so odd in battle, but they're also tying it into the story in a meaningful way. The costume (if all turns out as planned) will emphasize the fact that this character was the product of a military experiment, was exploited for purely capitalist purposes, was able to overcome that exploitation, and went on to become an American hero. I can think of few better concepts for a national icon than one who was able to free himself from the downsides of American ideals but who nonetheless goes on to fight for the spirit of that dream.

As for other characters in the film, CHUD.com has reported that much of the second half of the film will involve the superhero team The Invaders (as a six-member team), and Ain't It Cool News has reported that Red Skull will be the villain. It's clear that the writers are wanting to tell a classic Captain America story here. Again, this is probably the right way to go. The Invaders were a small team that fought in Europe during WWII, and Red Skull is the ultimate antithesis to American thought: a supervillain right-hand Nazi of Hitler himself.

What iconic superheroes like Captain America need in debut films are basic stories that establish them as the mythological heroes that they are. Practically all of the above elements would seem to serve the creation of such a mythology. The last thing we want is a superhero running around fighting random bad guys with little back story. Though Johnston has said there will be great action in the film, it looks like there will also be plenty of story behind the action.

A few other, smaller details: the movie will be shot in HD, it might be converted to 3-D (in post-production), the story mostly takes place in Europe, Captain America will be played by someone (definitely and American) 23-32 years of age, and the actor will be an unknown but will be surrounded by bigger names. All sounds good. A month or two ago a lot of people seemed to be talking about how great it would be if Sam Worthington got the role, but apparently that is not how it will turn out. Honestly, though Worthington is a good actor, I never quite understood why so many people seem to have instantly fallen in love with him, but I do think he would have made a great Captain America. From the way things are looking right now, though, it seems Johnston and his team know what they are doing.

This is one superhero movie I'm greatly looking forward to.