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Chris Evans: From Critics to Captain America

Chris Evans: the man who played Captain America on screen. An embodiment of American success, as even the shield he carries is more iconic than most movies. While all of this is true, Evans’ rise to stardom was nothing short of difficult, with obstacles and critics in his path ultimately becoming who he is today.

 

Evans, a Boston native, began acting as a teenager, gaining interest after seeing his sister get involved in plays. Right after his junior year of high school, he spent an entire summer taking classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. At the age of 20, Evans received an opportunity to play the second lead in Not Another Teen Movie. Looking back on this project, Evans says that “It wasn’t exactly some highbrow art, I was thrilled but my buddies were still giving me a lot of crap and calling me a terrible actor.” As he may have expected, the movie was torn apart by critics, therefore killing any chance to catapult his career. Evans continued to work in these types of projects until receiving his first big break in 2005: a lead role in 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four. Evans would play Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch. Yet similar to his first project, this movie was ripped apart by critics. The movie did not portray the comic book storyline well, and the Fantastic Four saga was shut down before they could begin. At this time, it was safe to say that Evans would never play a superhero again. 

 

In the last blog, we talked about Robert Downey Jr.’s rise to the top of Marvel’s success. After the huge success of the first Iron Man film, Downey became a major player in the MCU, and his part went beyond his role on the big screen. Apparently, he was also instrumental in bringing in the person who is arguably his best on-screen partner in the Marvel franchise. Downey not only reached out to Chris Evans to audition for the role of Captain America but ultimately convinced him to sign the deal. Signing this deal gave Evans a $300,000 salary for his first solo film. Fast forward to 2019 where the release of Avengers: Endgame broke all box office records, reaping 1.2 billion in its opening weekend alone. Forbes reported that Evans was paid $15 to $20 million for the film, bringing in quite a salary increase over just nine years. 

 

For the time being, Evans is stepping away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, he is not stepping away from being on the screen. There are several upcoming films to be excited about that Chris Evans will play a role in. On June 17, 2022, Disney and Pixar’s sci-fi action-adventure Lightyear presents the definitive origin story of the hero who inspired the toy. Chris Evans lends his voice to Buzz and has voiced his excitement over the course of the film’s production. Also in 2022 is The Gray Man. Here is a description of the upcoming film: When the CIA’s most skilled mercenary-whose true identity is known to none-accidentally uncovers dark agency secrets, a psychopathic former colleague puts a bounty on his head, setting off a global manhunt by international assassins. Evans will work with a familiar group of directors here, as the Russo brothers are leading this project. The hope is that one day, Evans returns to the screen as Captain America. As he once said, “I could do this all day”.