The first Captain America film is flat out my one of my favorite superhero films of all time.

I would even argue that the first Captain America film is a slightly better put together movie then The Avengers. (Though The Avengers  pure cinematic joy is what elevates it to be above Cap)

Captain America is also one of my favorite characters at Marvel. In a world of conflicted heroes with dark past, Captain America is one of the last few true beacon of good in comics….oh and he can kick an entire army’s ass all by himself….and be very polite about it.

One of the elements I loved the most about the first Captain America film is the pulp 1940’s comic book aesthetic, and that of course will not be a part of the new film. That’s ok though, the new direction is not only a very fitting evolution of the film series, but it also reflects the characters use in his own comic series.

One of my favorite  Captain America comic book runs of all time is when writer Mark Waid and artist Ron Garney worked on the character in the mid ’90s. They took a more Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan vibe to his adventures, but didn’t change HIM. And from all accounts, the new film will definitely take on that tone which of course is more directly based on my OTHER favorite Captain America run from writer Ed Brubaker.

Much like how I felt that The Dark Knight was a classic crime film injected with the scope of superhero action, this trailer sells that this Captain America film will be like watching a Jason Bourne movie, but on a wider/comic book scale. Well, except for the fact that we can actually SEE the fights (ZING!….FYI, I love the Bourne films.)

The directors of this installment is the Russo Brothers, Anthony and Joe. The Russo’s film credits is not one that you would usually assume will make a comic book movie, and the guys do have both highs and lows in their career. These guys directed the pilot for Arrested Development, and thus established the WHOLE series visual style. They continued to do great work on that show and on Community where they also directed the pilot for that series, and many other really great episodes. Hell, they did the paint ball episodes in Season 2 of Community and showcased some real action chops in those episodes.

But like I said, they have high and lows in their work. The movie You, Me and Dupree, directing the pilot to Animal Practice etc. But it becomes really clear that when you give these guys some quality writing, they will deliver, and judging the footage of this trailer, they brought their A game.

One of the things I like about this Cap is the idea of putting a man like Steve Rogers up against the cynical and modern spy world. Challenging Cap’s old ideals against SHIELD could lead into some great character conflict between Captain American and Nick Fury.

Also, for a film that has a lot of spy conspiracy elements to it, I LOVE that Marvel somehow convinced Robert Redford to be in this one, especially since he starred in one of the great spy thrillers from the ’70s,  3 Days of the Condor.

Looking at that trailer, you realize that Redford would have been a great Cap back in his day huh?

Not like Chris Evans is no slouch, and I loved his performance as Captain America so far. I’m curious to see if the film will address any more of his man out of time elements or will they just move on from that.

While I’d rather see Black Widow in a movie with Hawkeye, I’m glad to see her here too, and I wonder how much they will explore her character now that we got a bit more information about her from The Avengers.

While Anthony Mackie doesn’t get a lot of screen time in this trailer, we do get to see Falcon Fly! Being the Cap fan that I am, I’m really happy to see  his other famous partner in this flick.

And hey, I’ll say it, it’s nice to see another hero of color in the Cinematic Marvel Universe. That place is getting a bit too white washed.

This trailer is really selling more on the whole SHIELD aspects of the flick, which are clear hints that the organization will be hit really hard in this movie. One wonders how the Agents of SHIELD show will reflect on the events of this flick. Hell if they time it just right, and the events of this movie are INSTANTLY effecting the characters in Agents of SHIELD, that would be an extremely cool use of the synergy that makes the Marvel Cinematic Universe as fun as it is.

Surprisingly, very little of talk of the other title character in this trailer, the Winter Solider himself.

So far, he’s being used in this trailer to showcase a great physical threat to Cap, but we fans know the TRUE answer to the Winter Soldier’s deal.

I’m pretty psyched for this one folks. I can’t wait to see the full on throw down between these two.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLIDER comes out in theaters April 4, 2014.