FIRST LOOK: Chris Evans Returns in 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'

Captain America: The Winter Soldier just began production, but Marvel wasted little time in releasing its first promo image from the movie. In addition to a shadowy shot of Chris Evans and the iconic Captain America shield, the studio also made a bunch of casting announcements for the sequel to 2011's Captain America: The First Avengers, confirming that Robert Redford would play a S.H.I.E.L.D. leader and announcing that Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow would be a major character.

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” will pick-up where “Marvel’s The Avengers” left off, as Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and teams up with Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow, to battle a powerful yet shadowy enemy in present-day Washington, D.C.

With Happy Endings producers/directors Joe and Anthony Russo directing the movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is expected to be more of a political thriller than your traditional superhero movie.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier stars Evans, Redford, Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Hayley Atwell, Toby Jones, Emily VanCamp and Maximiliano Hernandez. It's set to hit theaters on April 4, 2014. Check out the full first image from the movie after the jump.