An incredibly trusted and wise source of Big Shiny Robot!s has consulted his trusted and wise source at the Marvel/Paramount camp about the recent flurry of casting rumours that have plagued the internet in the last week (yes, we’re guilty, too.)

Here is what our good friend had to say:

According to MY studio guy, the rumors about Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill), Ryan McPartlin (Chuck), Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) and other unknowns/television actors reading for Cap are true.

Apparently, when the script came in with World War II sequences (featuring the Invaders), the studio heads decided it was beyond their means to make this movie AND afford A-listers like Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.

Sure sounds like everyone’s high on McPartlin, who evidently just lost out on the Superman role to Brandon Routh.

As for Spidey, the Logan Lerman rumors are just that … rumors. Apparently Sony is waiting for James Vanderbilt’s script to come in (he’s balking on whether Peter Parker is still in school or just out). And they haven’t even come to terms with director Marc Webb yet.

So it seems as though pretty much all the rumours about Cap have been true, and the rumours regarding Spider-Man have been bunk.

In any case, there’s been a lot of news about Captain America coming out of the floodgates from Joe Johnston as well, and his take on the character, the costume, and the story was actually pretty interesting.  He said that the classic Cap costume in the film appears because they use Cap as a USO publicity tool, but Steve has that desire to lead and tries to ditch the costume, but realizes the worth of it when he notices that it’s an effective tool as a symbol of leadership.  So he begins to shape the costume into something more akin to the present-day Cap costume.  It’s a take on the character and the costume I’ve never heard, but I’m actually pretty in love with.

Also, he says the Red Skull is the villain, which isn’t a huge surprise, but interesting to get a confirmation of nonetheless.

In any case, check back here frequently for all the news that’s fit to print!

UPDATE:  A lot of sites are running quotes to our piece here and saying “The top three choices for Cap are these guys”.  This article says no such thing.  These guys read for the part.  That’s all our man said.  We have no idea who’s at the top of the list, but these three have read for it.