For a generation he’s been Captain America in a series of highly successful Marvel films, but Chris Evans has announced that Avengers: Endgame will mark his final appearance in the role.
The 37-year-old Evans first played Steve Rogers aka Captain America in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger.
He would go on to play the fan favorite in The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018), as well as cameo in a number of other Marvel films.
After playing Captain America for nearly a decade, Evans tweeted last October that it was over.
Officially wrapped on Avengers 4. It was an emotional day to say the least. Playing this role over the last 8 years has been an honor. To everyone in front of the camera, behind the camera, and in the audience, thank you for the memories! Eternally grateful.
— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) October 4, 2018
Evans is extremely online in a way that actors who headline ultra-mainstream movie franchises tend not to be; on any given day, you can find Evans on Twitter quoting Idiocracy to mock President Trump’s McDonald’s buffet for the Clemson Tigers, signal-boosting tweets about gay purges in Chechnya, or addressing Sen. Lindsey Graham as “Smithers.”
He does not worry about saying something online that might inspire MAGA-minded fans to microwave their Captain America action figures.
And for what it’s worth, he says, “Marvel has never said anything. On the contrary — when I bump into Kevin Feige the first thing out of his mouth is ‘Man, I love what you’re doing on Twitter.'”
“I don’t see it as trash-talking,” says Feige, Marvel’s president. “I see it as very astute, very honorable, very noble, very Cap-like. Commentary and questioning. I’ve said to him, ‘You’re merging! You and the character are merging!'”
Evans — who made $15 million for the past two Avengers films, up from $300,000 for his first stint as Captain America — told the Hollywood Reporter this week that he would be “disappointed” in himself if he didn’t spend time moving forward speaking out against “dumb shit” President Trump, even if it means alienating half his audience.
“You don’t want to alienate half your audience,” Chris Evans told The Hollywood Reporter. “But I’d be disappointed in myself if I didn’t speak up. Especially for fear of some monetary repercussion or career damage — that just feels really gross to me.”
The 37-year-old also admitted that he would have a hard time being friends with someone who was a Trump supporter, specifically in reference to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
“I really hope he’s not a Trump supporter,” he said. “I’m just hoping he’s one of those guys that maybe supported him and now regrets it.”
“Maybe he thought it was going to be different–and even that bothers me–but maybe there’s a chance now he just thinks Trump’s an absolute dumb shit, which he is,” the Captain America: The First Avenger star continued.
“If he doesn’t, if he’s still on that Trump train, I might have to cut ties. It’s really tough.”
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Like a lot of straight white men seeking to consciously and conscientiously navigate a tumultuous moment in the history of straight white male-dom, Evans has learned that shutting up is important, too.
At Slate’s urging, he read Rebecca Solnit’s The Mother of All Questions, a collection of essays about the insidious side effects of patriarchy, and took away a great deal.
“You have to understand that you don’t understand,” he says.
It’s not the most action-heroish way to look at things — but that may be the secret of his appeal as a movie star.
“At the root of it, he has true humility,” says Robert Downey Jr., who’s played Tony Stark against Evans five times. “I think it’s the reason he was able to kind of come to the front and be our team leader in the Avengers. I think a lot of his theater experience helped, too. Because it was like, ‘OK, I’m going to dress up, I’m going to go out, and I’m going to tell the truth.’ It’s very kind of old-school Spencer Tracy. Although I guarantee you Spencer Tracy never would’ve put on that getup.”
It’s possible another Captain America could rise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Evans says he is grateful he put aside his initial reluctance and played the part of an American icon for a decade.
Avengers: Endgame opens May 3rd.
So sad Chris Evans had to get political. Was sad to see him leave the Captain America role until I found out he wants to destroy America through his politics rather than protect America like Captain America would.
So, so sad when actors (of any political color) use their celebrity to influence politics.
They just destroy their audience perception of them, frequently destroy their careers and look like idiots.
Use your celebrity to help veterans or the poor or to fight cancer, not idiotic politics!
This is America and everyone can speak their mind. And it would appear, based on Hillary Clinton getting 3 million more votes than Donald Trump in 2016, that at least over half of the American people agree with Chris Evans views.