There is a certain level of taboo surrounding superhero movies among ‘serious’ actors and directors in Hollywood. Martin Scorsese has even gone on record to call Marvel movies the equivalent of theme parks and not real cinema. But for late actor Robert Redford, the script of Captain America: The Winter Soldier was convincing enough to come out of acting retirement. He played the role of Alexander Pierce in one of the studio’s best films from the pre-Endgame era.
Captain America, or Steve Rogers, is one of the most righteous, ‘do everything by the book’ characters from Marvel Comics. That’s why the story of him going against everything he stood for just to save his friend made for a gripping comic book and ultimately an entertaining film. Alexander Pierce once told Steve, “Despite all diplomacy and the handshaking and the rhetoric, to build a better world sometimes means tearing the old one down.” He was true to his word and had planned to eliminate all threats to the existing world before they even developed into problems, a plan that didn’t sit well with Rogers, who doesn’t like people trying to win a war before it starts.
Producer of the film Kevin Feige once talked about the rationale behind getting a retired Robert Redford for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In a video released by Marvel on YouTube, he said, “We were developing the storyline for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and we knew that we wanted to make a big superhero sequel, but we secretly wanted to make a 70s political thriller. Of course, Three Days of the Condor and All the President’s Men are the movies you go to. We were looking at those kinds of movies, and we never in a million years imagined that we would get Robert Redford in the film.” In a separate interview posted on The Academy’s YouTube channel, Kevin revealed that someone from Robert’s team had called them out of the blue and asked whether they had a role for him.
In the video shared by Marvel, Robert shared details about why he chose to enter the Marvel Universe and said, “I think that there is a certain amount of mystery that emerges in the film, and I found that really appealing. He (Alexander) has got a lot of dimension to him. He is really sure of himself and confident.” Even Samuel L. Jackson, who plays the role of Nick Fury, talked about Robert’s involvement and stated, “When you have people like Robert coming into a franchise like this, it adds another amount of gravitas to what we do.”
Alexander Pierce was a cunning character by all standards, as he managed to become the secretary of the Security Council, all while heading Hydra and planning to eradicate the world of all its evils but on his own discretion. However, Nick’s return from the dead and Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) espionage skills thwarted his plans, ultimately leading to his death. Unfortunately, his role in The Winter Soldier and a cameo in Avengers Endgame would become Robert Redford’s last on-screen appearance.
Robert Redford passed away at the age of 89.
