Captain America: The First Avenger

In 1942, scrawny Steve Rogers keeps getting rejected by the Army until Dr. Abraham Erskine picks him for the super-soldier program. The serum transforms him, but a Hydra spy kills Erskine and the formula is lost. Steve ends up on propaganda tours until he goes alone to rescue his friend Bucky Barnes's unit in Italy. Captain America is born, with a vibranium shield, the Howling Commandos and a romance with Peggy Carter. The villain is Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull, who uses the Tesseract to build weapons. Bucky falls from a train and is presumed dead. In the end, Red Skull vanishes through a Tesseract portal and Steve crashes the plane into the Arctic. He wakes up 70 years later in New York, facing Nick Fury.

• After the credits Steve, newly awake in the present day, takes his frustration out on a punching bag until Nick Fury shows up with a mission to save the world. A teaser for The Avengers follows.

1. ReferenceThe original Human Torch at Stark Expo

   When Steve and Bucky walk through the Stark Expo, look for a glass tube with a man in a red suit. It's the 1940s android Human Torch, a hero from Timely, the publisher that became Marvel.

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2. CameoStan Lee mistakes the Captain

   At the medal ceremony near the end, Stan Lee is the general who looks at the wrong guy and says he thought the Captain would be taller.

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3. SetupThe tree hiding the Tesseract

   Right at the start, in Tønsberg, the Tesseract is hidden behind a carving of Yggdrasil, the tree that connects the nine realms of Norse mythology. It's the first thread tying Captain America to Thor's cosmic side.

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4. Behind the scenesSkinny Steve is a digital trick

   Chris Evans was digitally shrunk for most of the pre-serum scenes. In others, his head was placed on the body of actor Leander Deeny, who worked as a body double.

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5. ReferenceA real baseball game

   In the hospital room where Steve wakes up, the radio is calling a 1941 game he had already been to. That's what gives the setup away right off the bat.

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