If the Avengers: Endgame rumors are true and Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers/Captain America doesn’t make it to the credits, it’s going to be a very emotional moment for the MCU. Not only is Evans excellent as a character who to many was considered a joke prior to the franchise (I remember skeptically wondering how on Earth they were going to market Captain America to international territories), but he’s also not afraid to stand up for his beliefs.
Evans has a track record on Twitter of criticizing President Donald Trump, a political stance that he recognizes might turn part of the audience against him. And in a recent interview with THR, he opened up a bit about his political beliefs, saying:
“You don’t want to alienate half your audience. 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.”
Hell yeah! He was then asked about what he thinks of Tom Brady’s apparent support of Trump, and said:
“I really hope he’s not a Trump supporter. 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. If he doesn’t, if he’s still on that Trump train, I might have to cut ties. It’s really tough.”
While it might appear to be a contradiction that the actor playing Captain America criticizes a sitting President, the character has a long history of standing up to corrupt authority. In 1973, Steve Englehart began a story inspired by Watergate in which Cap took down a supervillainous President – elements of which were hinted at in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
You might worry that the politically adverse Disney corporation would get upset at one of the most prominent actors insulting the President, but not so. In fact, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige seems to positively get off on it, as Evans explained:
“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].’”
That’s backed up by Feige as well, who said:
“I don’t see it as trash-talking. 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!’”
You can see Captain America standing up to a villain of the purple and veiny variety rather than the blonde and corpulent in just under a month’s time, when Avengers: Endgame smashes into cinemas on April 26th.
