Fantastic Four: Chris Evans Reflects on First Marvel Movie, "I Was Ecstatic"
The actor previously said his casting as the Human Torch was something his career needed.
Long before Chris Evans suited up as Marvel's First Avenger, the Knives Out alumnus appeared as the Human Torch in 20th Century Fox's fledgling Fantastic Four franchise. At the time of his casting, the film was Evans' largest role in his burdgeoning career, and it's a moment he was ecstatic to be a part of.
"It was one of the bigger movies I had done up until that point, so I was ecstatic and it was a fun role to play. [The Human Torch] was full of life and he reacted the way I probably would've reacted if I was given superpowers," Evans recently told GQ. "It was my first time doing those big, action-y sets. You show up on a set that's two blocks long and see these giant cables and explosions and green screens and it's the stuff you see in the 'Making Of's' on other films. It's like, 'Wow, I make movies, this is great.'"
Evans also admitted that prior to his joining of the film, he wasn't too keen on keeping up with comics. "I wasn't a big comic book reader," the actor added. "I've read a lot now but at the time, and aside from the '80s and early '90s Batman and Superman, that new wave of superhero films with Spider-Man, the X-Men, they had just begun and that was really exciting. Marvel really hadn't even taken back their name yet."
In 2020, Evans said the Fantastic Four casting was something he needed at that point in his career.
"That was back when the superhero thing was just taking off," Evans said on THR's podcast. "For the most part, this was right on the heels of the Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire and the X-Men, so the super hero thing was just taking off. You try to remember the moments in your life when you get those phone calls to get a job and I'm ashamed to admit that I can't always remember getting those calls but that one I remember. There was a lot of other personal things. I think I had just been dumped. I needed a win. I remember getting that phone call and just thinking, 'Aw, yes!' It was really a role that I enjoyed, it was the best paycheck I had ever gotten. It felt like a little bit of a corner had been turned and maybe I could parlay this into something else."
The two Fantastic Four movies Evans appears in are now streaming on Disney+.
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