Chris Evans Reveals the Hardest Part of Playing Captain America

When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Steve Rogers/Captain America is perhaps one of the franchise’s most beloved characters not just because of his heroics as Captain America, but because of how true to himself Steve Rogers has remained over the course of the films. From the moment audiences are introduced to him in Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve is presented as a good, honorable man always willing to put the greater good above his own best interests. It’s what sends him into the ice in that first film and fracture his friendship with Tony Stark/Iron Man in Captain America: Civil War. But it also turns out that preserving that element of who Steve Rogers is in was also the most difficult thing about playing the character for Evans.

During an appearance at ACE Comic Con in Seattle this weekend, Evans explained that preserving the integrity of the character while also finding ways to make him interesting and entertaining was the trickiest part of the role.

“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,” Evans said. “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.”

Evans also credited those that he leaned on to find ways to bring it all together, calling the role 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,” Evans said. “It was a group effort.”

It’s Steve’s consistency and inclination towards putting himself last that made the ending of Avengers: Endgame both moving and surprising for fans. After saving the universe from Thanos and bringing back those lost in Infinity War‘s Snap, Steve ends up staying in the past once he returns the Infinity Stones to the rightful places in the timeline, finally getting his happy ending with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). He certainly deserved his happily ever after, but the act created all sorts of questions among fans for what impact that would have on the timeline. It’s a subject Evans teased may be addressed going forward.

“You know, I’m not sure I can give you those answers. That’s weak as shit, but ask the writers,” Evans said. “Look, I understand there’s a lot of things you can question about the time continuity but if there’s one thing I’ve learned about working with Marvel, they don’t leave stones unturned. They really don’t.”

Avengers: Endgame is now in theaters for its second run ahead of Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 2nd. Captain Marvel is now available digitally and on home media release wherever movies are sold.