Perhaps no actor has embodied a character quite as well as Chris Evans has in his role as the MCU’s former Captain America. In fact, he’s become so synonymous with his on-screen persona that the MCU has divulged a six-episode series partly about how the mantle has been passed onto Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson, called The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, to help hammer in the idea that Evans’ Captain America is no longer, both within the cinematic universe and as a role for the actor. While Evans truly brought life to a character that was mostly larger than one — and even carries some of Cap’s heroic traits off-screen as well — it will be nice for audiences to get a reprieve to separate the thespian from the role, allowing themselves the opportunity to familiarize themselves with some of Evans’s other great performances in his career.
Although he doesn’t have the filmography or range of Leonardo DiCaprio or Tom Hanks, Evans has displayed a versatility and willingness to appear in more than just comic book movies — although he’s been cast in multiple roles in that genre as well. Most of his best work is as an action star, but he’s dropped a few gems in other realms as well. Here are some of Evans’ greatest movie roles outside the MCU throughout the years.
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6 Fantastic Four (2005)
20th Century Studios
Before he ever donned Captain America’s star-spangled uniform, Evans appeared as a different Marvel superhero: Johnny Storm, better known as the Human Torch. While both Steve and Johnny are Marvel IPs, they couldn’t be more different, and Evans’ ability to nail both characters is a testament to his acting chops. In Fantastic Four, and its sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, he plays a hot-headed, immature playboy whose narcissism and selfishness often get his newfound family and team of superheroes into some tricky situations. A far cry from Captain America’s “Boy Scout” personality, seeing Evans as Johnny Storm might leave some fans a little disoriented at first, but his portrayal of the Human Torch is just as lovable in a completely different way, even if the two-part series is a little campy compared to today’s comic book movies. Game Rant has surmised that Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan could be the next Johnny Storm, taking the mantle from Evans and Michael B. Jordan — who played the character in perhaps one of the most hated superhero movies of all time.
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5 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
Universal Pictures
In Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Evans plays Lucas Lee, a stereotypical meathead who daylights as an action star, but whose importance to the film is as one of the ex-boyfriends of Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). In this movie — based on a series of graphic novels by Canadian author Bryan Lee O’Malley — the protagonist, Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), must defeat all of Flowers’ past love interests to win her heart. He engages in epic battles with them, including a traditional action flick-style brawl with Evans’ Lee. While he doesn’t have much screen time, Evans leaves his mark by nailing a campy caricature of the type of roles that he’s become known for throughout his career. As a bonus, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World also boasts another future Marvel superhero in Brie Larson, who also plays one of Flowers’ ex-lovers in Envy Adams.
4 Not Another Teen Movie (2001)
Sony Pictures
Evans doesn’t hold the majority of gut-busting lines in the MCU, but he has some experience in the comedy genre. Not Another Teen Movie is a cult-classic parody of the numerous coming-of-age movies that dominated the late-90s and early-2000s. Evans appears as the popular football star and prom king trope who’s as equally insufferable as he is attractive in Jake Wyler. He does a wonderful playing a very despicable character despite the film making it painfully obvious that the audience is supposed to hate him. It’s refreshing to see him play a role with absolutely zero redeeming qualities, even if some parts of the movie haven’t exactly aged well. The film mostly follows his quest to transform typical nerd Janey Briggs (Chyler Leigh) into someone more suited to date a high school football star to spite his ex-girlfriend Priscilla (Jaime Pressly).
3 Knives Out (2019)
Lionsgate Films
A little different flavor from the bulk of his filmography, Knives Out allowed Evans to try his hand as a player in a murder mystery/thriller. In the film, Evans plays Hugh Ransom Drysdale, grandson of the recently murdered Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), a wealthy and famous novelist whose death is under investigation at the beginning of the movie. Knives Out differs from other murder mysteries in that the culprit is revealed almost immediately, but the true suspense is in all the intrigue that becomes unraveled as Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) delves into the puzzle. Even within a standout ensemble cast that features Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Toni Collete, among many other amazing actors, Evans shines as one of the most important players in the mystery, one who initially comes off as kind-hearted and misunderstood, but, like all the other characters in the film, have plenty of secrets beneath the surface. His wardrobe alone is worth the price of the rental. Evans will reportedly not reprise his role in the sequel: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery according to US Weekly.
2 Gifted (2017)
Searchlight Pictures
In Gifted, Evans stars in a tearjerker of a drama revolving around a dysfunctional family and a gifted child. In it, he plays Frank Adler, uncle and legal guardian to Mckenna Grace’s Mary Adler, who is discovered to have an advanced understanding of mathematics, enough so to garner a scholarship to a special private school for gifted children. Frank, who has seen similar circumstances affect his sister and Mary’s mother, Diane, negatively in life, protests against the idea of displacing the child from her normal life. Upon hearing of this, Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan), Frank’s mother and Mary’s grandmother, sparks a custody battle in an effort to capitalize on Mary’s talents. Evans does a phenomenal job wringing tears from the audience in a movie that’s hellbent on leaving viewers misty-eyed and sniffling.
1 Snowpiercer (2013)
CJ Entertainment
Snowpiercer follows a transcontinental train of the same name that carries the entirety of Earth’s remaining humans after an attempt to combat global warming goes awry and brings the planet into a new Ice Age. The vehicle is segregated into wealth classes with the poorest citizens crammed into the caboose and patrolled by armed security. The mistreated tail cart suspects that the front cars are living in better conditions, and inspired by his mentor Gilliam (John Hurt) and encouraged by his right-hand man Edgar (Jamie Bell), Evans’ Curtis leads a revolution that takes him and company to the front of the train where they learn firsthand how each class level has been living. Snowpiercer allowed Evans to be the action star he is without the PG-13 restraints that handcuffed him as Captain America. The Korean film is one of award-winning director Bong Joon-ho’s most epic works and has sparked a hit television series with the same title, featuring Jennifer Connelly.
