Avengers: Endgame Director Joe Russo Reveals which Avenger Is Most Difficult to Play

Avengers: Endgame brought the saga of Earth's Mightiest Heroes to an end. More than one Avengers actor gave their final performance in their role. Now co-director Joe Russo is looking back on which actor had the most challenging job in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Russo spoke to Men's Journal for a profile of Chris Evans. In the piece, Russo Says playing Captain America, as Evans did, is "one of the most difficult roles you could possibly ask an actor to play. He's playing integrity and moral fortitude, and making it complex and interesting at the same time. It can be very difficult.

Russo may be a bit biased since he and brother Anthony Russo directed two Captain America movies before helming Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. For his part, Evans says playing Steve Rogers was a transformative challenge.

"When you're playing a character for a long time, you start to see the parallels between what the character's going through and what you're going through," he said. "You start to look at your own conflicts and circumstances through the eyes of someone who might handle it better than you would.

He found it challenging to leave Cap behind after shooting his final scene during Endgame reshoots. "It felt like graduating high school or college, you know," he said. "For the last month of filming I was letting myself go to work every day and be a little overwhelmed and a little nostalgic and grateful. By the last day, I was bawling. I cry pretty easy, but I was definitely bawling."

Avengers: Endgame is now the highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide, having surpassed Avatar. The film's box office gross stands at $2.79 billion. Following the film's $1 billion-opening weekend, Joe and Anthony Russo said in a statement, "We poured our heart and soul into Avengers: Endgame, hoping to tell a story that would inspire audiences around the world. Our family of cast and crew felt honored to be entrusted with bringing the Infinity Saga to a close. To Kevin Feige, everyone at Disney and Marvel, and the incredible, global community of fans – thank you."

Do you think Captain America is the most challenging Avenger to play? Let us know in the comments. Avengers: Endgame is still playing in theaters. It is also now available on Digital and comes to Blu-ray on August 13th.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in spring 2021, Loki in spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If? In summer 2021, Hawkeye in fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021.