Chris Evans first superhero role in Fantastic Four almost cost him Captain America

Chris Evans has earned himself a global fanbase with his performance as Captain America. But the actor starred in another Marvel movie before, which was Fantastic Four. We are revisiting the time when Evans spoke about bagging the role of Human Torch after a breakup, when he was looking for a win in life.

Chris Evans revealed why bagging Fantastic Four was a big win for him

In an episode of THR’s podcast, Chris Evans revealed, “That was back when the superhero thing was just taking off. For the most part, this was right on the heels of the Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire and the X-Men, so the superhero 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.” However, the Fantastic Four movies received negative reviews and was not a huge commercial success either.

Marvel President Kevin Feige talks about Chris Evans starring in two superhero movies

His role in Fantastic Four, almost cost him Captain America as the makers initially did not want one actor to play two superheroes. Marvel President Kevin Feige told the Hollywood Reporter that his role as Human Torch jeopardised Captain America for him. He said, “We thought, OK, well, he’s that character. Let’s keep looking.” He then revealed, “As we (continued) not finding people, we went back to the initial lists. And that brought us back to Chris. And I thought, well, Patrick Stewart played Jean-Luc Picard and Charles Xavier. Harrison Ford played Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Who cares?”

Chris Evans however admitted to The Hollywood Reporter that he had rejected the role not once, but twice. He said, “Getting the offer felt to me like the epitome of temptation. The ultimate job offer, on the biggest scale. I’m supposed to say no to this thing. It felt like the right thing to do. You see the pictures, and you see the costumes, and it’s cool. But I’d now woken up the day after saying no and felt good, twice.”

Chris Evans will not be seen in any more Captain America standalone movies. However, the actor will next be seen in The Red One along with Dwayne Johnson.

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