Chris Evans isn’t planning to pick up Captain America’s shield in the Marvel Cinematic Universe again anytime soon. Evans is the subject of a cover story profile in the latest GQ. In the interview, he discusses how his star power compares to Steve Rogers’ and whether he’d return to the superhero universe after passing Captain America’s mantle onto Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, formerly the Falcon. Evans doesn’t rule out a return to the MCU at some point, but should that day come, it won’t be for a while. Evans has no plans to pop back into the Marvel Universe for a quick Avengers team-up.
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“I’ll never say never, just because it was such a wonderful experience,” Evans says. “But I’m also very precious with it. It’s something that I am very proud of. And like I said, sometimes I can’t believe it even happened. And I wouldn’t want the black eye if it felt like a cash grab or if it didn’t live up to expectations or if it just felt like it wasn’t connected to that original thing. So, no time soon.”
Evans continues, saying that he’d like to do less acting in general as he pursues other interests in the next phase of his life. “And ultimately I really hope to just maybe act a little bit less in my life. I have a lot of other interests. Look, by no means have I climbed any sort of a mountain in this field. I have no Oscars and I’m not lumped with other names that are at the top of the mountain in any way. But I also feel very satisfied.”
However, Evans remains grateful for his time in the MCU. He admits that the success he had as Captain America for nearly a decade is what has allowed him the opportunity to step back now. “If I wanted to stop everything now, I could,” he says. “Which is incredible. And that’s a blessing beyond words. Specifically, because life is unpredictable and anything can happen.”
He continues, “I’m a bit of an overplanner. I try to set things up so that any sort of future curveball that happens, I’ve planned for it. And that’s ostensibly exactly what Marvel’s provided. And part of that relaxing is just, uh, putting my brain down, putting my anxiety down. And the analysis, the kind of planning for tomorrow. I don’t have to do that as much anymore, and I can just be present.”
Evans first played Steve Rogers in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. He appeared in 11 Marvel Cinematic Universe over nine years before bowing out of the shared universe in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. His comments to GQ are consistent with his previous statements regarding the potential for a return to Marvel.
“It’s tough, because look, I love that role deeply,” Evans said at C2E2 in April. “He means so much to me, and I really do. I think there’s more Steve Rogers stories tell, sure. But at the same time, I’m very, very precious with it. I’d become, you know, it’s like this little shiny thing that I have that I love so much, and I just don’t want to mess up in any way, and I was a part of something that was so special for the special period of time and in a way, it really landed so well. He continued, “As much as I’m connected to that role and love telling those stories and working with those people. It doesn’t quite feel right right now.”
