Channing Tatum & Keira Knightley in CAPTAIN AMERICA contention?

According to Mike Fleming, former model turned actor Channing Tatum is now being considered for the role of Steve Rogers, aka Captain America in Marvel's June 2011 released tentpole which begins filming at the end of next month. So first there was Chris Evans, then Ryan Phillipe and now Tatum after the original bunch of t.v. actors and unknowns. There's certainly a pattern forming here. These are actors who have a number of big features under their belt (despite two of them struggling to win roles right now) and it's pretty clear that the bunch of guys Joe Johnston was originally given to consider for a March 1st casting deadline, just weren't up to snuff. Marvel are deepening their $300,000 pockets, and are now looking at the kind of talent we originally thought would be considered for this. After the jump, a look at three British actresses' up for the love interest part, one of which is Keira Knightley;

Tatum, of course, feels right physicality wise. He has charisma too, even though he kinda went missing in G.I. Joe but nobody really survived that picture with much pride. The guy has momentum with Dear John performing at the box office and with Knockout and The Eagle of the Ninth upcoming, you can sure see the attraction in him. Now with the lead role causing so much trouble for Marvel, what of the female love interest? Well Deadline say three Brit's are under consideration; Keira Knightley, Which is a little surprising as I thought her Pirates of the Caribbean blockbuster days were over for the time being... Emily BluntAlice Eve - Eve is the girl out of Jay Barchuel's league and was in the British comedy Starter for Ten. She is a screen beauty but hasn't got a lot on her CV and must be seen as the outsider. All are being considered to play Peggy Carter, the girlfriend of Rogers who was an "American agent serving with the French Resistance with standard military training and is handy with a gun." The obvious reasoning on who will land this role as Marvel have been chasing after her for a while now, would be Emily Blunt. Originally offered the role of Black Widow in the Marvel universe before 20th Century Fox pulled a contract clause from her time on The Devil Wears Prada which meant she had to star in Gulliver's Travels over Iron Man 2; much to her own disappointment, Marvel have made the call out to her again for this. Will Blunt still be attracted to the Universe? The Widow part was a lot different to the Peggy Carter role. We believe the role that eventually went to Scarlett Johansson is going to be over multiple movies, but with only one feature expected to cover Rogers' time in World War II; this sounds like it could be a one time movie deal. And besides; is starring as the love interest to a Channing Tatum or a Ryan Phillipe as interesting as seducing Robert Downey Jr?
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Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.