Chris Evans is one of the most prolific actors in the MCU, playing Captain America across seven Marvel movies (as well as cameo roles in four more). As someone who originally turned down the part twice, it must have been a challenge to keep bringing something new to the table as the Sentinel of Liberty, but what does Evans think is the hardest part of playing the character?
While attending a Q&A at ACE Comic-Con this weekend, the Avengers: Endgame star revealed that the trickiest element of bringing Steve Rogers to life is making sure that he remains interesting across his appearances, despite his unwavering moral compass and relatively taciturn nature. Something which contrasts him with more loveable, quick-witted rogues like Iron Man, Doctor Strange or the Guardians of the Galaxy.
“The trickiest thing about the character is he’s a good man and so trying to find new ways to make it interesting, that was the challenge because he always puts himself last and it became such a … real collaboration between myself and Kevin [Feige, Marvel Studios President] and the Russos and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely in terms of trying to preserve his nature.
He’s kind of a taciturn guy. He doesn’t kind of, you know there’s a lot of other characters in the Marvel universe who kind of use their words for creative advantage and Cap is a little bit more of a simple-minded guy and it’s hard to kind of create stories around him to at once create conflict, but not just make him the center cog where circumstance happens around him.”
The actor went on to reiterate that he credits Feige, the Russos and Markus and McFeely for their huge contribution to making Cap as popular as he is, calling the creation of the character “a group effort.”
“In a lot of ways I would lean on the Kevin Feiges and Joe Russos and Markus and McFeely to try and help me find ways to make him at once consistent but entertaining. It was a group effort.”
Evans can now reflect on the challenges of his Marvel career as he’s likely wielded the shield for the final time. Endgame appeared to wrap up Cap’s story as Steve made the decision to go back in time and live out his life married to Peggy Carter. He even turned up in the present as an old man and handed his superhero mantle over to Sam Wilson.
We haven’t had official confirmation that he’ll never return to the MCU, though. In fact, the Russos have teased that there could be more story to explore with Steve, though they’ve also commented that Evans may not want to come back as he’s already emotionally said goodbye to Captain America.
