Chris Evans held up his shield in favor of superhero movies, arguing they’re a lot more difficult to make successfully than most people think.
Evans, 42, appeared as Captain America (a.k.a. Steve Rogers) in 11 Marvel Cinematic Universe titles between 2011 and 2019, and the actor stood up for his filmography during an appearance at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle on Saturday, March 2.
“Comic book movies in general, for whatever reason, don’t always get the credit I think they deserve,” Evans said during a panel discussion. “They are these big, giant movies. There’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen. But the empirical evidence is in. They are not easy to make.”
In fact, Evans argued, “If it was easier, there would be a lot more good ones.”
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“I’m not throwing shade!” Evans insisted. “I’ve been a part of a few that missed. It happens. Making a movie is tough. More cooks in the kitchen doesn’t make it easier.”
While Evans acknowledged that not every MCU entry is a bona fide critical smash, he wasn’t interested in parsing out the good ones from the bad ones.
“I don’t want to highlight specific films in the Marvel catalog but some of them are phenomenal,” he said. “Like independently, objectively great movies, and I think they deserve a little more credit.”
Evans did note that 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the actor’s second foray as the masked crusader, is his top choice from his MCU canon.
“It’s my personal favorite Marvel movie that I was a part of,” he said. “It’s not just for the movie itself but the experience. The first film, I was so nervous. You know what you’re stepping into and as a result you’re playing defense and you’re playing not to lose. When Winter Soldier came around, we were playing to win.”
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Evans hung up his Captain America mask after 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and while he said a return to the MCU “doesn’t feel quite right” at the moment, he hinted, “I think there’s more Steve Rogers stories to tell.”
Still, fans probably shouldn’t waste too much time getting their hopes up that Evans himself will be involved.
“But at the same time, I’m very, very precious with it,” Evans continued. “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. I was a part of something that was so special for a special period of time and, in a way, it really landed so well.”
