FAO Ralph Macchio, Editor

The Ultimates #1
“All-American”
Script By Mark Millar
Art by Bryan Hitch

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

JOE KUBERT, GRANT MORRISON and VIVI BALTUTTIS

26 Pages
20th December 2001

Page One

1/ Full page splash. Open high above the North Atlantic and a formation
of Allied planes make their way towards a secret Nazi base on an island
in the frozen north.

CAPTION : The North Atlantic, 1945:

Page Two

1/ Cut to interior and we get a head and shoulders of Bucky looking a

little disgusted with the cigarette he’s just taken a puff of. As discussed,
the Ultimate version of Bucky should look more like a regular soldier
than the domino-masked original and I thought we might make him a
War Photographer (which gives him some kind of reason to be knocking
around with a propaganda machine like Captain America). Imagine a
feisty, little nineteen year old version of James Cagney. Being a
photographer, he should have a portable camera somewhere on his
person for the drop.

BUCKY : You know, I still can’t believe the Germans would do

something as evil as shoot down a plane filled
with CAMEL
CIGARETTES.

2/ Pull back and see Bucky sitting with his parachute on and sitting here
waiting for the drop with all the other American troops. A bigger, slightly
older and more cynical guy called Kowalski sits opposite and the others
listen as a little tension develops in their dark, dank environment.

BUCKY : These French things’ll KILL you.

KOWALSKI : No, cigarettes just stain your TEETH, Bucky.
Whatever
they’ve got down there on that ISLAND’S gonna
kill us.

3/ Closer on Bucky, sneering a little.

BUCKY : Hitler wiring you DOLLARS or DEUTSCHMARKS to
knock
Allied morale, Kowalski?

4/ Cut back to Kowalski as he retorts. He obviously isn’t happy about the

fact that this mission has gone all showbiz.

KOWALSKI : Mister, morale couldn’t be any lower in here if my

MOTHER-
IN-LAW was on-board. You ASLEEP during that
mission-
brief or what, newspaper-boy?

Page Three

1/ Pull back for a wider shot as this conversation goes back and forward
across the aisle and we get a slightly wider shot, allowing us to see the
other nervous troops.

KOWALSKI : The Krauts are building a super-weapon that could

end the
war in a matter of DAYS. All that’s standing
between jack-
boots and Madison Avenue is grunts like you and
me—
KOWALSKI : --and the closest thing they have to a plan is
throwing as many
of us at this secret base as they can find in the
vague hope that
somebody BREAKS it.

2/ Switch angles and we see this conversation taking place with the
cockpit visible in the background. Sitting on a chair up ahead with his
back to us is Captain America. He’s sitting backwards on this chair and
looking at something we can’t see. Shield should be strapped across his
back. He’s very Miller-esque and iconic in this sequence.

KOWALSKI : Exactly which part of that scenario sounds like our

morale
should be anything higher than FREEZING
POINT, moron?
BUCKY : How about the fact that we got a secret weapon of
our OWN
up here, wise-guy?

3/ Reaction shot from Kowalski. He obviously doesn’t believe all this

propaganda stuff they have in the newspapers, reckoning it’s all a big
stunt to scare the Hun. Nobody sitting here really believes these guys are
for real.

KOWALSKI : What? CAPTAIN AMERICA?

KOWALSKI : Dressing some clown in a CIRCUS COSTUME and
calling
him a SUPER-SOLDIER might be a hit with the
RECRUITMENT PEOPLE, but what age do you
think we
ARE, Barnes?

4/ Closer on Kowalski and we see how scared and serious he looks.

Everybody here thinks they’re going to die.

KOWALSKI : This ain’t just another PICTURE OPPORTUNITY you

can
fake to get eighteen year old boys excited about
JOINING-
UP.
KOWALSKI : This BOMB they’re working on can flatten cities in
seconds
and that star-spangled PHONEY they pay you to
hawk
around’s just gonna DIE down there like the
REST of us,
fella.

Page Four

1/ Cut to the cockpit and a shot of Captain America sitting backwards on

the chair and facing us as he looks at a photograph in his hands. The
camera should really be at the mid-way point here and, to keep him
mysterious and iconic, I’d like to only feature Cap’s face from half-way
down.

CAPT AMERICA : Bucky, would you do me a favour and assure these

fine
gentlemen that I’ve never lost a crew in THREE
YEARS of
these covert operations?

2/ Close on the picture and we get a shot of Gail Richards, Cap’s

sweetheart back home. As you know, this is based on the character from
the old Republic serial and, if you don’t have the link to the web-page
anymore, I’ll re-send. It’s worth hanging onto this for the present-day
shot of this actress on that page because we’re going to be meeting Gail
in the year 2001 later this issue.

CAPT AMERICA : In fact, just to hammer home the point, you’re all
invited to my
IMPENDING NUPTIALS in six months time.

3/ Pull back as Cap sticks the picture in his helmet.

CAPT AMERICA : One minute to DROP ZONE, boys.

4/ Cut back to Bucky sitting side-by-side with the soldiers again and the
guy next to him pipes up, slightly more good-natured than the guy
opposite was.

SOLDIER ONE : I hate to say it, but your friend in the flag’s just as
crazy as
YOU are, hot-shot.
SOLDIER ONE : How’s he gonna HELP us on the ground when he
ain’t even
wearin’ a PARACHUTE?
BUCKY : Don’t you READ the papers, pal? Captain America
practically
NEVER wears a parachute…

4/ Close on Bucky glancing sideways around at the off-panel guy with a

good-natured smirk and his eye-brows raised slightly.

BUCKY : He says PARACHUTES are for GIRLS.

Page Five

1/ Okay, these two silent pages have been opened up to incorporate a

brilliant spread suggested by Bryan, but there’s still no dialogue
anywhere. Cut to plane exterior and a beautiful, impressive shot of these
US service-men jumping out of the plane, parachutes opening as they
drop to the battle-zone below.

CAPTION : ICELAND, 06:00 hours:

2/ Switch angles for a pretty good look at the sheer scale of this as
literally hundreds (or thousands) of paratroopers drop through the skies
and brave enemy fire from the Nazi military complex one mile down the
beach from the coast. This should be a vast, impregnable ‘factory’ of
sorts where whatever the Hell they’re going to launch at America is
being put together under cover of darkness.

NO DIALOGUE

3/ Cut to ground-level for a wide, Braveheart-style picture of thousands

of troops running from one end of this panel to the other amid the
smoke, the death, the rain and the general chaos.

NO DIALOGUE

Pages Six and Seven

1/ Pull back for Bryan’s big double page spread where we have a shot
from behind the Allied troops as they charge towards our first truly
imposing look at this nightmarish Nazi fortress. This is our money-shot.

NO DIALOGUE
Page Eight

1/ Cut to the heart of the battle again and hundreds of troops are
splashing through the mud, ready for whatever’s coming next. Gunfire,
explosions, rockets, whatever you want to draw is going on in the
background.

NO DIALOGUE

2/ Cut to the German forces lined up and defending their big fortress.
They’re all firing off-panel and, naturally, bombs are being dropped in
the background on the huge complex they’re defending, but we shouldn’t
really notice any damage being done.

NO DIALOGUE

3/ Closer on another set of American troops as they charge up the

beaches, many of them getting clumsily shot to pieces by the off-panel
Germans. Really make this look clunky and painful.

NO DIALOGUE

4/ Cut to another section of the beach and one of the missiles being fired
from off explodes in the sand and blasts a dozen American troops into the
air while the rest of the general chaos continues in the background.

NO DIALOGUE

Page Nine

1/ Cut to some of the guys from the opening scene by parachute. We can
see Kowalski in particular here, looking as clumsy, human and nervous
as any of us would be in a war situation like this.

NO DIALOGUE

2/ Ground-level of Kowalski ducking down and running through what

looks like a gauntlet of fiery bodies parachuting down around him. I’d
like Cap’s promise to hold true about nobody on his plane dying so make
these guys from another regiment.

KOWALSKI : Oh my God.
KOWALSKI : Oh my God.
KOWALSKI : Oh my God!

3/ Closer on Kowalski as a bullet fires right into the side of his head,
lodging in his helmet and he stops suddenly. Eyes are wide open, a look
of disbelief on his face like he might actually have just died.

NO DIALOGUE
4/ Reality kind of slows down for him for a moment as he takes off the
helmet and looks at it, spastically confused how he could even be alive.
War-fare continues in the background.

KOWALSKI : What?
KOWALSKI : How the Heck did--?

5/ Another bullet is fired from the off-panel chaos and tears through his
thigh.

KOWALSKI : AAGH!!

Page Ten

1/ Pull back as Kowalski hits the ground, clutching his leg and screaming
for a medic. See planes flying overhead, more paratroopers dropping,
guys dying, etc, as Bucky bends low and runs towards us.

KOWALSKI : MEDIC!
KOWALSKI : MEDIC!!!
BUCKY : Take it easy. I’m on my way.

2/ Bucky hunches down behind some rocks and starts to do a little First
Aid on the wound. Kowalski looks horrified to see a newspaper-guy
handling this.

KOWLASKI : What do you think YOU’RE doing, Barnes? Get OFF

me, you
lunatic! It’s a BANDAGE I need, not a PICTURE!
BUCKY : Will you shut up and keep still? Me and Cap have
been on
enough of these missions to know how to treat a
BULLET-
WOUND, Kowalski.

3/ Closer as Kowalski helps (possibly off-panel) and Bucky winces as he

gets started on tending to the wound.

KOWALSKI : OW!
BUCKY : Okay, okay. I’m sorry…

4/ Pull back a little as they have this brief, desperate conversation behind
the rocks. Lots of other guys shooting, being shot and being blown up in
the background as Bucky removes the bullet, etc. Kowalski is sneering a
bit here, feeling bitter about the fact that they’re doomed.

KOWALSKI : So what happened to your LIVING LEGEND, huh,

soldier?
KOWALSKI : Shouldn’t this have been a WALK IN THE PARK for
the
PATRON SAINT of OMAHA BEACH and BACK-
BONE of
THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY?
BUCKY : You’re an IDIOT. You know that, Kowalski?

5/ Closer on Kowalski, face covered in mud and blood, as he sneers,

wincing with pain and looking angry at the same time.

KOWALSKI : No, the idiots are the people who believe that
CAPTAIN
AMERICA garbage you print in your
NEWSPAPERS,
Barnes.
KOWALSKI : I mean, where’s this SUPER-SOLDIER when we’re
all getting
SHOT TO PIECES, huh? Having a beer with
UNCLE SAM?
Chasin’ skirt with the EASTER BUNNY?

Page Eleven

1/ Switch angles and we see Bucky still looking pretty casual as he stops
patching Kowalski up for a moment to speak into the little radio-link the
American secret service gave him to communicate with Cap. The
wounded soldier looks dumbfounded as he looks up at whatever the Hell
is casting a big, black shadow across them.

BUCKY : No, just circling the plane so he can clear us a path

through all
these friggin’ NAZIS, I guess.
KOWALSKI : What?

2/ Pull back as something huge passes over the American troops (say
twenty feet from the ground), but we really only get the tail-winds as
everyone kind of stops what they’re doing and ducks.

NO DIALOGUE

3/ Cut to cockpit interior and a grim Captain America speaks via the
radio on the side of his mask as he intensely pilots the plane himself.
Cap’s getting ready to make a break for it and, naturally, there’s nobody
else around at this point.

RADIO BALLOON : Cap, this is BETTY BOOP: What in God’s name are
you
DOING, soldier? This was NOT THE PLAN! I
repeat, this
was NOT THE PLAN!! OVER!
CAPT AMERICA : Unfortunately, the plan had a hole the size of IOWA,
Bird-
Man, but the variables didn’t hit me until DROP-
TIME
MINUS THIRTY—

4/ Cut to exterior again and a shot from behind the plane as it virtually
runs across the ground and takes out any tanks or jeeps or whatever as it
flies straight for the big complex and the huge main doors. Nazis are
scattering in every direction. This is like a juggernaut.

RADIO BALLOON : This rocket they’re building’s aimed straight for the
WHITE
HOUSE! We’re not getting a SECOND CHANCE
at this!
Over!
RADIO BALLOON : CAP, for GOD’S SAKE! This isn’t gonna WORK! The
north
face of the base is absolutely IMPREGNABLE!
OVER!

Page Twelve

1/ Closer and we see Cap jump out of the plane in the most controlled
leap you’ve ever seen in your life. He’s still in radio communication and
has obviously done this at just the last possible moment.

CAPT AMERICA : No such ANIMAL, Birdman--!

2/ Pull back and see Cap dropping from the bomb-hatch as the plane
loses a wing.

NO DIALOGUE

3/ Shot from behind as Cap lands like a cat and we see the damaged
plane heading straight for the main doors of the complex.

CAPT AMERICA : Captain America OVER AND OUT!!

4/ Cut to the complex interior. This is the big retro-futuristic Nazi base
(think Fritz Lang’s vision of the future) where their atomic weapon (still
unseen) is being stored. Colossal shot of this plane smashing through the
big aircraft hangar-style doors and the wings breaking off as it ploughs
through and deep into the complex (leaving room for American soldiers
to pile in on the next page).

NO DIALOGUE

Page Thirteen

1/ Reaction shot from an excited, awe-struck American troops in the

distance. They just can’t believe what they’re looking at off-panel. Bucky
snaps away as many pictures as he can for the newspapers.

SOLDIER ONE : HOW did you say you know this guy again, Barnes?
SOLDIER ONE : Believe it or not, I used to save him from getting his
BUTT
kicked three times a week on our way home from
Saint
Mary’s YOUTH CLUB.
2/ Cut to interior shot of one of these little gun-towers. Cap kicks in the
door and we get a reaction from the Nazis.

GOING FOR GUN : OH MEIN GOTT ! ERSCHIESST ES ! ERSCHIESST

ES
DOCH ENDLICH !

3/ A couple of Nazis getting their teeth knocked out.

NAZI ONE : HNH--!

4/ Another couple of Nazis getting their teeth knocked out.

NAZI TWO : AAAH!

5/ A third and final couple of Nazis being knocked from the tower.

NAZI THREE : ERIIIK!!

6/ Pleased reaction shots from Bucky and the other soldiers further down
the hill.

BUCKY : Lucky for us, he’s kinda FILLED OUT a little since
then.

Page Fourteen

1/ Full page splash. Cool shot of Cap standing in the middle distance with
the flames behind him. He’s absolutely cleared a path right into the heart
of the complex here and the Allied forces aren’t going to get a better
chance than this as he barks instructions back to them. For the first
time, we can see that famous shield hanging on his arm. Iconic image.

CAPT AMERICA : WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, LADIES?

CAPT AMERICA : CHRISTMAS?

Page Fifteen

1/ Pull back for a big, Braveheart-style image of everyone charging

forward.

EVERYONE : CHAAAARGE!!

2/ Cut to complex interior. Reaction shot of German troops among the

chaos created earlier as they’re shot to bits by some off-panel GIs.

NO DIALOGUE

3/ The Americans charge into the base, led by Captain America as he

smashes his shield through a crowd of Nazis and continues towards his
target.
CAPT AMERICA : You’re a little TOO QUIET back there, Bucky. TALK
to me,
pal. Those lousy jokes of yours are the only way I
can tell
you’re STILL ALIVE when we’re doing this stuff.

4/ Cap is busy breaking Nazi jaws, but still concerned about his pal.
Bucky looks really distracted by what’s happening off-camera.

BUCKY : Oh my God. This is IMPOSSIBLE.

CAPT AMERICA : What?

Page Sixteen

1/ Pull back for a really impressive picture as we switch angles again and
see a prototype rocket in the distance within this huge complex. This is
where the Nazi war-head has been attached and it’s basically an early
version of an ICBM. Although this technology, and much of the tech in
the building, wouldn’t be seen for twenty or thirty years, I want to give
readers a strange feeling that something isn’t quite right here. As
discussed, retro-futuristic is the way to go since the science is extra-
terrestrial, but the designs are very much 1940s. Think Buck Rogers or
Fritz Lang. Cap should already be charging off through the Nazis
towards the rocket, stopping this thing being the reason they’re here. A
nice shot of Cap just casually smacking a couple of these Nazis out the
way with his shield and we see them flying backwards through the air.

BUCKY : How can the Germans be this far AHEAD of us, Cap?
BUCKY : Even if Oppenheimer gets a result in LOS ALAMOS
next
month, we’re never gonna be able to match THIS.

2/ Reaction shot from an astonished Bucky.

BUCKY : Where did they lay their hands on the FLASH

GORDON tech?

3/ A serious-looking Cap continues to charge forward like a train through

all these dazed Nazis, but he looks around at us and makes eye contact.

CAPT AMERICA : You wouldn’t believe me if I TOLD you, chum.

CAPT AMERICA : Let’s just say there’s more sides fighting in this war
than
anyone will ever KNOW.

Page Seventeen

1/ Cut to another part of the complex as some of the Nazi officers and
scientists are arguing about what to do. They’re shouting about whether
they should launch the prototype or not and officer one is really
panicked. Officer two has already answered this by hitting the launch
button.
OFFICER ONE : Was machen wir jetzt? Die Techniker sind immer
noch unten
um den Antriebsmotor fertigzustellen?
OFFICER TWO : Das ist jetzt egal. Wir müssen starten. Wir haben
keine Zeit
mehr um zu diskutieren.

2/ Cut to dark level a couple of floors below and see the engines charging
up.

NO DIALOGUE

3/ Reaction shot of the technicians trying to finish the rocket in time.

However, there’s no more time to waste and these guys are all
incinerated by the heat-blast from the huge rocket’s engines.

NO DIALOGUE

4/ Cut to this spacious level one floor above where Cap and Bucky
charged in on the previous page and we see Cap leaping over a stairway
towards the huge open floor leading to the partially-submerged rocket’s
launch-pad. Half a dozen Nazis are charging towards him here, desperate
to stop him from reaching the rocket which we can already see starting
to move. Smoke billows up like it’s Apollo Nine or something.

RADIO BALLOON : Achtung! Achtung! Alle Truppen versammeln sich in

der
Haupthalle—
RADIO BALLOON : Ihre einzige Aufgabe besteht jetzt darin CAPTAIN
AMERICA
zu stoppen.

5/ Cool shot of Cap bursting through these guys like they aren’t even
there, sending them scattering in every direction. His single goal is to
reach that off-panel rocket.

CAPT AMERICA : Bucky, if you want a picture for the morning PAPER,
it’s not
going to get much better than THIS!

6/ Reaction from Bucky as he gets ready to snap some pictures.

NO DIALOGUE

Page Eighteen

1/ Cut to an exterior of the complex and we see the roof opening up and
the nose of the missile rising up through the doors.

NO DIALOGUE

2/ Cut back inside the complex again and we have a reaction shot from
Bucky.
NO DIALOGUE

3/ Elevated shot of Cap charging through this big open space towards the
rocket as it continues to take off. Other Nazis are trying to stop him here,
but he’s just swatting them aside. We should be looking at this from
behind a row of Nazi troops on this upper-level firing down towards Cap
with machine guns.

NAZI OFFICER : You’re TOO LATE, Captain. The missile has already
been
LAUNCHED. Who do you think shall command
the Allied
Forces once WASHINGTON has been wiped from
the map,
eh?
NAZI OFFICER : Comrade STALIN, perhaps? That fat, little
Englishman with
the face like a BULLDOG’S REAR-END?

4/ Ground-level again and we see Cap charging through these guys with
his shield deflecting most of the bullets from above, although a few
should tear through him. That said, his determination is so strong that
they don’t even break his stride. In the background, we can see a couple
of these Nazis who were trying to stop him getting taken out by the
bullets.

CAPT AMERICA : Sorry, Fritz, but I didn’t go through six months of

STEROIDS
and SURGERY so my fifteen-year old brother
could take a
crash-course in GERMAN—

5/ Pull back for a spectacular image of Cap leaping off the edge of this
precipice into the white heat of the rocket as it rising up before him.
There’s a real look of desperation on his face as he carries out this
suicidal jump, pulling his shield back and ready to plunged the pointed
end into the hull of the rocket. We’ve snapped him here mid-jump and
shouldn’t know yet if he’s been successful. From this angle, it just looks
like he’s ATTACKING the missile, but we find out on the next page what’s
really going on.

CAPT AMERICA : This ROCKET’S staying in it’s BED!!

Page Nineteen

1/ Cut to exterior and we see some of the Germans just stopping what
they’re doing and turning around, looking up at this bright, off-panel
light like it’s the face of God. This is what they’ve wanted all along and
they just stop fighting. The first soldier looks delighted.

GERMAN SOLDIER : Seht! Da oben am Himmel!

OTHER GERMAN : Oh mein Gott ...

2/ Shot of this huge nuclear missile rising up through this opening on the
roof of the factory and blasting upwards into the war-torn night sky.
Obviously, Captain America’s clinging to the side of this, but it shouldn’t
obvious from this angle.

NO DIALOGUE

3/ Cut back to ground-level again and we see the Germans all just
dropping their weapons and surrendering, knowing that their objective
has been met. The Allies are kind of confused by this sudden end to the
action and one of them asks Bucky what’s going on. Bucky is holding his
ear-piece and trying to communicate with Captain America. Bucky,
remember, was down among the ruins of the main wall and should have
a clear view of the sky (and the off-panel rocket).

SOLDIER : Huh? What are they doing GIVING UP?

BUCKY : Are you KIDDING? As far as the KRAUTS are
concerned,
that’s MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, fella.
BUCKY : I’m just trying to get Cap on the TWO-WAY to see
where we
should go from HERE.

4/ Cut to a desperate Cap clinging on for dear life to the side of this
missile. Think Superman in the first movie. We’re really close here, but
not so close that we don’t see that he’s embedded his triangular shield
into the side of the missile and is using this to hold on.

CAPT AMERICA : Sorry, Bucky. You’ll have to shout LOUDER. I can’t

hear a
BLASTED THING over these ROCKET ENGINES.
RADIO BALLOON : Cap, for the love of God--!

5/ Stay with Cap.

CAPT AMERICA : Well, what did you EXPECT me to do?

CAPT AMERICA : Take FIVE and LIGHT-UP?

Page Twenty

1/ Pull back for a big image of this thing moving at sixty degrees up
towards the clouds and roasting everything in the air behind it. Cap’s
just a tiny, little thing holding on here and the odds should look
impossible.

NO DIALOGUE

2/ Cut back to ground level and we see Bucky from behind as he watches
this thing disappear up into the night sky. He’s walking outside again
with all the American and German soldiers and nobody quite knows what
to make of what’s going on. The fighting, of course, has been ground to
an absolute halt.

BUCKY : Steve, this is insane. What are you HOPING for?

Even YOU
can’t disable a prototype HYDROGEN BOMB.
RADIO BALLOON : No, but I might be carrying enough explosives to
sabotage the
rocket’s INTERNAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM—

3/ Cut back to Cap astride the missile and sticking as many little sticky-
explosives as he can to the side of this thing. It’s still moving at an
incredible speed and he’s very, very high up by this point so this
shouldn’t be as easy as it sounds. Obviously, there should be a real strain
on his face here.

CAPT AMERICA : That INTEL from STRATEGIC reckoned the

propulsion jets
are only used in the first fifteen hundred miles of
the journey.
CAPT AMERICA : If I can disrupt them NOW, I might still be able to
knock this
thing completely OFF-COURSE.
RADIO BALLOON : But what about you?

4/ Cut back to Bucky, surrounded by American troops, as he screams into

his radio. He’s trying to come up with an alternative, but there really
isn’t a choice here. Situation is looking increasingly bleak.

RADIO BALLOON : What ABOUT me?

BUCKY : STEVE! Don’t be an IDIOT--!

Page Twenty One

1/ Cut back to rocket which is now high above the clouds as the back end
of the thing explodes in a fireball and sends Cap flailing off, unconscious.
The rocket jolts, changing direction slightly.

NO DIALOGUE

2/ Cool shot of the damaging rocket shooting upwards towards clouds

with Cap falling off in the distance. It’s never going to make it to the USA
now and looks set to explode any minute.

NO DIALOGUE

3/ Cut back to ground-level as one of the German troops turns away (the
way those Cold War soldiers used to do when they were testing nukes in
the South Pacific). He yells at the others to do the same and everyone
prepares for the explosion.

GERMAN SOLDIER : UM HIMMELS WILLEN, SCHÜTZT EURE

AUGEN!!
4/ Cut to high above the Earth’s atmosphere and a big Star Wars-style
nuclear explosion five hundred miles wide.

NO DIALOGUE

Page Twenty Two

1/ Cut back to the battle-fields and we have a shot behind these

thousands of troops standing here and looking up at what looks like a
sun-burst high in the next sky. The lettering here should be done in a
clear upper AND lower case (not italics) to indicate that this is a note
Steve had written for his fiancée in case he never came back from the
war.

CAPTION : My darling Gail…

2/ Reaction shot from a solemn, terrified Bucky as he stands here and

looks up at the off-panel flare which marks the end of his friend. The
wounded Kowalski, from earlier in the script, stands behind him with all
the other guys. Everyone’s kind of quiet and unsure what to say.

CAPTION : I can’t imagine what’s going on in your head right

now, but
just the fact that you’re reading this means
something bad has
happened and for that I am so sorry.

3/ Cut to Cap’s identifiable helmet lying in the puddles and the little
photograph of Gail Richards (seen earlier) with a boot-print across it as
bit soldier-boots run past.

CAPTION : Sorry for saying you were wrong, sorry for going to
war, sorry
for dying and leaving you alone like this.

Page Twenty Three

1/ Cut to a hundred miles away and a dark, almost magical underwater

shot where we see an unconscious Captain America in longshot sinking
down into the icy depths of the Labrador Sea. Pieces of the rocket should
be scattered and sinking around him.

CAPTION : All I ever wanted was for us to get married and have
kids and
buy that little house with the cherry-blossom
trees on Cedar
Street.
CAPTION : It breaks my heart to think that you and I might get
cheated
out of all the tiny joys other people take for
granted.
3/ Closer on the unconscious, upside-down Captain America, bubbles all
around him, as he sinks darker and deeper. I’d of like some of his mask
to be missing here so we can maybe see half his face and some of his
blonde hair to a) make him seem a little more human here and b) give
him instant visual recognition when we see him several scenes down the
line.

CAPTION : But even if we ARE separated for a little while, we’ve

got to
remember that God is GOOD and even the most
TERRIBLE
things happen for the best of REASONS,
sweetheart.

4/ Closer again as the image disappears, almost entirely consumed with

deep-sea bubbles for a moment as they become much thicker and
intense. This should be a really cinematic-looking scene transition.

CAPTION : HEAVEN AND HELL couldn’t keep us apart, Gail

Richards.
I know in my heart that no matter WHAT the
future holds…
CAPTION : …you and I will be together again ONE day.

4/ Plain black panel across the base of the page, closing the entire 1945
sequence.

CAPTION : Always and forever,

CAPTION : Steve.

Pages Twenty Four and Twenty Five

1/ Cut to a huge, bright double page spread of Tony Stark standing with
his back to us at the peak of Mount Everest and looking out across the
Himalayas in 2002. He’s the only human being around for what looks like
thousands of miles from this angle. Jaw-dropping beauty of nature
against a brilliant-white day-time sky. Titles and credits super-imposed
over the almost super-human double page image.

CAPTION : Mount Everest, 2002:

Page Twenty Six

1/ Shot of Tony standing here (semi-recognisable under state of the art

goggles and thermals) as he gazes out into the middle distance with a
proud expression. See his climbing party in the background, his old
bodyguard (Happy Hogan) being addressed as Tony wonders at the off-
panel view.

TONY STARK : You know, this has to be just about my favourite

place in the
WORLD, Happy. No meetings. No cell-phones.
No contracts
 being pored over by snake-eyed, little
LAWYERS…

2/ Pull back for a wide shot from behind the climbing party as they reach
this summit and we see the small figures dwarfed against the awesome
scale of nature.

TONY STARK : STARK INTERNATIONAL might be the third-biggest

company in America, but standing up here just
kind of puts
everything back in PERSPECTIVE again, don’t
you think?
HAPPY HOGAN : Sounds to me like we’re gonna have to DRAG you
back to
that office, Mr Stark.

3/ Closer on Tony, grinning to himself. His eyes are masked by the

reflective goggles, but we're enough here to see the broad, dashing Errol
Flynn-smile.

TONY STARK : No, quite the REVERSE, actually.

TONY STARK : Nothing gets me more FOCUSED on the next stage
of THE
PLAN than these SIX WEEK FASTS on
EVEREST.

4/ A couple of other members of the climbing party plant a STARK

INTERNATIONAL flag in the snow as this conversation continues in the
background.

TONY STARK : When we get back to camp, I want you to contact

JARVIS
and tell him to cut-short that little MOROCCAN
ADVENTURE he’s been paying for with the stolen
PETTY
CASH.
TONY STARK : Tell him I’ll be staying in the PARK AVENUE address
for the
next twelve months and he needs to talk to
someone at
Christie’s about replenishing the WINE-CELLAR.

5/ Pull back as everyone begins their descent.

TONY STARK : This coming MONDAY begins a brand-new

CHAPTER in our
lives, boys and girls.
TONY STARK : Board-meeting in MANHATTAN at nine-fifteen
PROMPT.

END CAP : To Be Continued: