Pledge allegiance to Cap in our look back at the best Chris Evans movies
On May 6, Chris Evans will reprise his role as Marvel‘s Captain America for the sixth time in Captain America: Civil War, this year’s other cinematic superhero showdown. Over the course of his 16-year career, Evans has demonstrated a fondness for comic book movies, including two superhero roles and several lesser known comic adaptations including The Losers, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and Snowpiercer.
Evans has also demonstrated a desire to become a force behind the camera as well as in front of it. Evans’ directorial debut, Before We Go, was released in 2014, and he’s indicated a desire to begin focusing on his directing career in the near future. While some of have interpreted that as Evans stepping away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe when his contract expires, Evans has also said that he’s willing to continue playing Cap if Marvel wants him back.
If that’s the case, Marvel should definitely take Evans up on that offer. His take on Captain America has been largely embraced by movie fans, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier has been widely hailed as one of the best Marvel movies. Captain America: Civil War may be loaded with Avengers (and Spider-Man!), but Evan’s Cap and Robert Downey, Jr.’s Iron Man that are still driving the narrative. It may even rival the Avengers movies at the box office!
Although Evans got his start on television, ComingSoon.net’s retrospective of Evans’ career is focusing on ten of his most significant films. Share your favorite Chris Evans movies in the comment section below!
Chris Evans Movies Spotlight: Not Another Teen Movie (2001)
Evans’ first film was the low-budget family drama, The Newcomers. One year later, Evans had one of the leading roles in Not Another Teen Movie as Jake Wyler, the well-meaning jock. Not Another Teen Movie was a pretty shameless parody of several classic teen centric films… it just wasn’t a particularly good one.
However, the movie was a springboard for Evans, and he starred opposite future Supergirl co-star, Chyler Leigh.
Chris Evans Movies Spotlight: Cellular (2004)
Cellular was the birth of Chris Evans as an action star. He played Ryan, a young man who was inadvertently contacted by Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger), a woman whose family was threatened by a gang of corrupt cops. Ryan was forced to remain on the phone with Jessica as long as possible while trying to save her family.
Action maven Jason Statham played the big bad in Cellular, but the box office was less than stellar. However, the movie itself is actually quite enjoyable, in a 2004 way.
Chris Evans Movies Spotlight: Fantastic Four (2005)
20th Century Fox finally brought Marvel’s Fantastic Four to the big screen, and Chris Evans was one of the four! More specifically, Evans played Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. Although the Human Torch was often the most vapid member of the FF, Evans captured that part of his character well. He was also one of the few performers from the film to earn praise from comic book fans.
Evans reprised his role for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but that film effectively ended Fox’s plans to do another FF movie or a Silver Surfer solo film.
Chris Evans Movies Spotlight: Sunshine (2007)
Two years after his first cinematic superhero turn, Evans co-starred in Sunshine, director Danny Boyle’s science fiction tale about a mission to reignite the sun with an incredibly massive nuclear bomb. Honestly, that part of the plot is pretty rubbish, but the movie was more about the journey than the destination, and Evans had the second leading role behind Cillian Murphy.
Chris Evans Movies Spotlight: Push (2009)
Every now and then, Hollywood attempts to do a superhero movie that isn’t based on a comic. Push was one of those films, and it centered on a few superpowered individuals as they attempted to evade Djimon Hounsou’s Agent Carver, a “Pusher” who wanted to use his fellow superhumans for his own agenda.
Evans played Nick, the hero of the story opposite Dakota Fanning’s Cassie. Push was not a box office failure, but it didn’t crack $50 million.
Chris Evans Movies Spotlight: The Losers (2010)
Evans returned to the comic book realm in The Losers, an adaptation of Andy Diggle and Jock’s acclaimed Vertigo comic series. Evans played Jake Jensen, a member of a black ops team that narrowly survived an attempt on their lives from one of their American handlers. The Losers actually had a great cast, with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba, Columbus Short, Óscar Jaenada, and Jason Patric.
But at the box office, The Losers lived up to their name and failed to earn even $30 million. It didn’t help that The A-Team movie followed The Losers to theaters so closely after its release.
Chris Evans Movies Spotlight: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
According to Evans, he was very reluctant to play a superhero again after the first two Fantastic Four films at Fox. Evans also said that he was intimidated by Marvel Studios’ long term contract for nine films, which was shortened to six films before he finally signed on to portray Steve Rogers in Captain America.
Any worries that audiences wouldn’t accept Evans as another Marvel superhero were quickly dispelled, and Captain America: The First Avenger successfully reintroduced the title character to a wider audience before Evans reprised his role in The Avengers.
Chris Evans Movies Spotlight: Snowpiercer (2013)
Snowpiercer is definitely one of the stranger movies on Evans’ resume. It’s based on Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette’s graphic novel Le Transperceneige, which features the remnants of humanity on a global train called The Rattling Ark. Evans played Curtis Everett, the leader of the revolution against the elite residents of the Ark’s front train cars.
Against the odds, Snowpiercer did quite well at the international box office and it even won critical acclaim. Several critics cited it as one of the best films of 2013.
Chris Evans Movies Spotlight: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier was the film that made Cap “cool.” Although Evans’ Captain America played a large role in The Avengers, The Winter Soldier allowed Evans to retake the spotlight in a superhero spy thriller. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo did such a good job that Marvel Studios immediately hired them to return for Captain America: Civil War and the two-part Avengers: Infinity War.
This movie was also one of Marvel Studios’ most successful films outside of The Avengers and Iron Man. But don’t be too shocked if Captain America: Civil War easily surpasses it at the box office.
Chris Evans Movies Spotlight: Before We Go (2014)
If Evans has his way, Before We Go could be the blueprint for his post Marvel career. Evans directed and starred in Before We Go, in which he played Nick, a man who formed an unexpected connection with Alice Eve’s Brooke.
Reportedly, Before We Go was shot in only 13 days. While the critical response to Before We Go wasn’t entirely favorable, Evans has voiced his desire to focus on directing in the next stage of his career.
