Anna Kendrick, Imogen Poots, and Felicity Jones in the mix for 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'

While the bulk of the recent attention has focused on the other Marvel sequels, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is also gearing up to start production very soon. The Russo Brothers are set to make their biggest splash yet directing the film, and along with the returning Chris Evans, last month saw Anthony Mackie board as Cap's partner, Falcon. Now it looks like Marvel is closing in on their choice to take on the female lead, and it's a mighty impressive list of contenders.

According to the always sketchy New York Post's 'Page Six' column(via Bleeding Cool), the shortlist includes the awesome Anna Kendrick(Up in the Air), Imogen Poots(Fright Night), and Felicity Jones(Like Crazy). They don't specifically what the role would be, but the smart money is on Sharon Carter, the niece of Cap's WWII love, Peggy Carter(Hayley Atwell). Sharon is one of the more important supporting players in Cap's life, and she plays a big role in the story of the Winter Soldier, who many will remember is Cap's former partner, Bucky(Sebastian Stan).

Kendrick would seem to be the most likely choice, if only because she's the one with the best name recognition and box office viability. She's instantly likable, and much like Natalie Portman does for Thor, she adds an extra touch of acting credibility to the franchise. Poots is currently filming Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups, while Jones was last seen in the vibrator comedy, Hysteria. All three are solid choices when it boils down to it.

The thing is, Sharon Carter isn't just some damsel in distress or part of a love triangle. She's an agent of some renown, eventually becoming one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top operatives. So she's likely going to be very involved in the action, whether it's in this movie or the next. Out of these three, none of them immediately strike me as that type of actress. I would have thought Jessica Biel would be a natural, more obvious choice. Whatever Marvel's choice is, we'll see how it plays out when Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens on April 4th 2014.