Exclusive: Chris Evans Talks Captain America's Return, Bucky Barnes & Marvel's Future

I have such a love for Winter Soldier, that film, and Seb and I had so much to do there. I mean, even into Civil War, but, you know, we really loved working together so much, and God, I guess I can't give too much away. This is so tricky. I was about to start really talking. You almost got me. You almost got me. Chris, welcome home. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. You grew up here. You grew up in Sudbury, just outside the city. When you come back home, what's the first thing you do? You know, I usually like to give a little shout out to a pizza place called Leone's. Actually, during the photo sessions, there was a bunch of people who had Leone's sweatshirts, because I've done this before, and I get free pizza because of it. But I moved in back. I mean, I've lived here since 2012, so I don't really come back anymore. This is kind of home base now, you know? By the time I got Captain America, I had been acting for 10 years. So you understand how difficult it can be, how unpredictable, how unfair it can be. So there was already sort of this baked-in-the-cake appreciation. But I also said no. I said no to the movie a few times. You know, if Kevin Feige hadn't, you know, not taken no for an answer, I'd be watching someone else right now and be like, I got that offer. I could have played that role. So there's this extra sense of gratitude. Now, I'm going to dip my toes into some dangerous territory, because I know there's Marvel snipers everywhere. Uh-oh. Everywhere. Nothing too crazy, because we know that Steve's coming back in Doomsday. How hard was it for you to keep that involvement a secret? Really tough. Really tough. You know, we filmed in London. I rented a house an hour away from the studio on the other direction from London. We were in the middle of nowhere. We would go to set, home, set, home. I mean, when we were on set, they changed within the script. My character was called Luke Cage, just in case things leaked. Call sheets, I was called Luke Cage. And I mean, even on set, if I was going to set, they'd be like, Luke Cage is traveling. It was such a lockdown thing. For you, looking back now at the original six Avengers, what made that group so special to you? I've done a lot of ensemble pieces, and sometimes it gels, sometimes it doesn't. Everyone has different personalities, especially in Hollywood. But yeah, that group, we just got along really well. There were no bad apples. And we loved what we were doing. We took it seriously. We all were committed and excited. And yeah, it just worked. It just got lucky. Sometimes you can have all the right ingredients, but it doesn't come together the right way. I've been a part of a few of those, and it's baffling. But no, this one just worked. There's this famous story that all of you guys got matching tattoos, except Mark Ruffalo. Yeah. So two questions here. One, how did that day come together? And two, is Mark Ruffalo ever going to live that down? I know. And I bullied him, trust me. I was pulling out real peer pressure. Scarlet's a tattoo person. I am. Hemsworth is. And we were chatting about it one day on set. And Scarlet and I, Scarlet was really into it. And I was glad, because if I didn't have Scarlet, I don't think I could have convinced everybody. Scarlet was a big get. Was it your idea? Well, Scarlet and I were casually talking about it. And she was like, we should do that. I was like, well, you go. No one's going to listen to me. And Downey was on board. Hemsworth was on board. Renner's on board for just about anything. Yeah, we couldn't get Ruffalo. Couldn't get him. You managed to pull off one heck of a surprise in Deadpool and Wolverine. Right. Absolutely incredible. It shocked all of us. Thank you. Everyone knew you at that point as Captain America. But you got to revisit Johnny Storm. And that was a lot of fun for us. What was harder, though? Keeping the secret that you're coming back as Johnny Storm? Or picking up Johnny after all those years later? Slipping into the role was a piece of cake. I don't know what that says about me, that that character is so readily available to me at all times. But I loved that role. I loved playing him. And yeah, no, it was actually kind of a dream. Well, I wanted to ask about that exactly. Because Johnny Storm, he says things that Steve Rogers would never say. Was there a point, though, that you had in your mind, you finally got to let loose and play the exact opposite of Steve? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's, you know, you don't, when I played Johnny, and then years later, obviously, played Steve. You play Steve for so long, and I have so much love for Steve. But then you look back, and you're like, man, I had it really good once. Like, I could just, I could say just about anything, and it might make it in the movie. Yeah, I mean, look, there's different flavors. But it was nice to go back to that sort of verbose character and just let loose a little bit. It's so funny, because I have an 11-year-old daughter. We were watching the Fantastic Four movies, and I told her that you, as Johnny Storm, was Captain America, and she did not believe me. Good, I'm going to take that as a compliment. It is absolutely a compliment. She's like, that's not the same guy. But we do have a fun game for you. It's called Emoji Endgame. Okay. Okay, so what we're going to do, this is the way the game works. There's going to be a maximum of three clues, three emoji clues. God, I'm nervous. All right, I got to focus. All right. We're going to have three emoji clues. They're going to come up one at a time. It's either going to be an Avenger or an MCU character, but you're going to get three clues, okay? Are they coming up here? They're going to come up right here, and you guys can see. If you're stuck on the first emoji, we have two other clues, and then you can guess at any point if you think you know who they are. So let's get our first clue up. Uh, I mean, that looks like Ant-Man, right? That's not Ant-Man! Never mind. No, take it back. It's not Ant-Man. Okay, all right. Well, let's keep going then. All right, let's get the next clue up. All right. Is it Iron Man? The correct answer is Iron Man! Yeah, I thought Iron Man would be too obvious. Why would you start with Iron Man? Okay, all right. All right. I won't miss another one. Okay, let's see what our next one is. Okay. Shoot. Okay, what's the next one? Do I know this? All right, that's our second clue. Oh, it's his shield! All right. What's that? I guess I should know this. Is that Captain America? Okay, show us. Captain America! All right. You know, again, it was almost too obvious. Let's see what clue we got next. Okay, okay. This is Katniss Everdeen. We all know that. Next. Oh, God. Legolas. Sorry. It's Legolas. Now, one more clue to go. No, we got this one. It's Hawkeye. There we go. There's Renner. Renner. Take it easy, buddy. Okay. That one's hard. It shouldn't be, though. Should it? Give me the next one. Let's get the next clue up. Well, okay. Okay. You know what this is? See, this is Steve Rogers, isn't it? It's Steve Rogers. The other one was Captain America. That's... Steve! See, that was Steve, not Steve. We do have some fan questions that were written in for you that I'd love to ask you. Great. This is from Alex from Boston. It's about your dog, Dodger. Okay. Dodger, he's almost as famous as you are on social media. Does he understand that he's a celebrity? No, and you know what? God bless him that he doesn't. He's the sweetest guy, and he just... He loves attention. I work with this company, Jinx, and so I've had to do a few little commercials with Dodger, who's not a professional working dog, so he's a bit of a menace on these sets, but he's just so happy, and he just loves people, and when you have him in those environments, you're just reminded about what a sweet, sweet, sweet guy he is. So, no, he has no idea the popularity that he has. Now, there is a fan that actually dropped this off for you. I wanted to give it to you live here in person. Right there. Just check that out for a second. You guys see this? It's Chris and Dodger, guys. This is from Jessica from Chicago. She asks, if you had to choose four MCU superheroes to make up an ultimate Avengers team, who would you choose and why? I'm sure if everyone here was asked this question, there'd be follow-ups, like, well, based on what? Are we talking about, like, who do you want to hang out with? Are you trying to fight to win? I mean, I guess you'd be a fool to not start with Scarlet Witch, just based on the power, right? Right? Probably Thor, too, just to ensure that you're going to win. Then probably Iron Man, just because after you win, he knows all the good vacation spots. So, wait, was that three or four? Oh, no, I'm on the team. You're on the team, but you get to choose. I'm putting myself on the team. Well, yeah, but with yourself, you got four other choices. So, you got one more. Oh, you got one more spot. All right, okay. Well, then, let's get Bucky in there, because I need him. Yeah. You got Bucky love all day long. I nailed it. Bucky love all day long. Speaking of that, what was your favorite scene to shoot with Sebastian Stan? Every scene, you know? It's another thing where you just kind of don't realize how good you had it until you don't really have it anymore. I have such a love for Winter Soldier, that film. And Seb and I had so much to do there. I mean, even into Civil War. But, you know, we really loved working together so much. And, God, I guess I can't give too much away. This is so tricky. I was about to start really talking. You almost got me. I very much enjoy working with Sebastian. Yes, he's a lovely, lovely man. Well, this one's from Mitch from Dallas. He asks, if acting had never worked out, what would Chris Evans be doing today? You know, when I was a kid, I thought I was going to go into animation. Really? I remember as a kid, I was just telling my buddy, I got a couple of buddies from my high school here, so I'm extra nervous right now to not sound fake. But when I was a kid, I remember thinking I would never not love cartoons. You know what I mean? Like, why would I ever not want to watch these all day? And I still do. But at that time, I thought, this is surely what I'm going to do for a living. So maybe if it weren't acting, something in animation. What was your favorite cartoon growing up? God, good question. God, now that depends. I mean, as a little kid, Thundercats. Oh, I love Thundercats. Thundercats were big. Ninja Turtles were big. But then you kind of graduate into, like, the Batman and Gargoyle. Like, you know, those early 90s. And then you get to the point where you're like, am I too old to be watching these? Absolutely not. Like 15, but I still want to come home and watch them. Gummy Bears was big, too. Gummy Bears. Gummy Bears, the Disney afternoon. Yeah. And I know that theme song is making the rounds on different social media channels. That theme song is incredible, isn't it? Gummy Bears. Oh, Gummy Bears, man. Here and there, bouncing everywhere. Yeah, it's a gem. And we were just talking about Gargoyles in another panel earlier, and I think that show was so ahead of its time. Which one? Gargoyles. Ahead of its time. Incredible. Yeah, all those. What was that? Was that like, was that WB? That was the Disney afternoon. Was it? Yeah, I remember they had, it was Gummy Bears. I think Tailspin, Darkwing Duck. Tailspin was great. Rescue Rangers. Rescue Rangers, that's right. Come on. Yeah, that style of animation, that time, just fantastic. That must have been full circle for you getting to do Lightyear then. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'm a massive, massive Pixar fan, and everything they do. So I, yeah, jumped at the chance to do that. Amazing. We got another fan question. It's from Jake from Boston. This is a good one. You're wearing the hat. So who is your all-time favorite Red Sox player, and why? Oh, wow. I mean, I, you know, there's the 0-4 team. Like, that team was so important, and the Poppies, and the Manny's, and Pedroia's, and, you know, but probably Ted Williams. I mean, if you got to be, if you're a true Bostonian, you're going to say Ted Williams. That's incredible. Have you had a chance to meet any of your favorite players? I don't think I have. No. We got to make that happen. I feel like I've met more Patriots than I have Sox players. I'm sure you're a Patriots fan. Of course. Got to be. Who's your favorite all-time Patriots? The Goat? I mean, like, how can it not be? Listen, I grew up a San Francisco 49ers fan. But with that being said, Joe Montana, I thought, was the greatest of all time. I don't think it's comparable. Tom Brady is the greatest. Joe was great. He's great. I don't know if you can touch Tom, though. You're right. This one's from Eliza from Toronto. What shows are you currently binge-watching? I love Larry David, so I started watching that Life, Liberty, and I forget what the show's actually called, but that's hilarious, because I can watch Larry David do anything. I was telling my buddy from high school, that show Primal, it's all, I mean, it's not new, but Primal is this show that I feel like you can watch, just binge-watch. What's Primal? The animated show. Oh, I know exactly what you're talking about. Oh, it's fantastic. Not a word of dialogue, but such a vibe, such a, you really let yourself get immersed in this aesthetic, and the storytelling without any dialogue is incredibly compelling. So yeah, if you haven't watched Primal, watch it. It's a little gory, but watch it anyway. Is there a genre of film that you haven't explored yet that you'd still like to do? I watched an interview with Rob Pattinson recently, who's a buddy, and what a ridiculous talent he is, but he gave an interview, and he said at a certain point in his career, he just wanted to make strange things, and I was like, you know, good for you, man. Like, the times in my life where I've done that, because sometimes you can go into something that almost feels maybe safe, and other times, you know, when I signed on to Snowpiercer, I didn't really understand the script, you know, and it felt intimidating in all the wonderful ways, and you think, let's just do something weird. Let's find a good director, let's find someone who has a vision, and just completely surrender, and do something that's unexpected, and that pushes you a little bit. So maybe aside from theater, something weird. Something weird. I like hearing that. When you think about Steve Rogers, obviously picking up the shield is one thing, but is there a piece of costume, or a prop, that automatically kind of gets you into Steve as a character? When I shave. I hate it. Second that clean face, you're like, ugh, there he is. You hate it when people clean shave him? You know, I just, it's, you're just very exposed. You're just there, you know? What was your favorite moment of reading the script of Steve Rogers, or Captain America, and then getting to actually perform that? It's in Doomsday. Is it? I don't want to say what it is, but, you know, I said a couple weeks ago at Comic-Con, I made a comment that when we finished Endgame, Marvel had wanted to keep making movies as Nomad, and I read a bunch of pitches, and they were all fantastic, but none of the stories felt like they were worth compromising. You know, I don't know if you want to call it, whatever, the legacy of the character that we worked hard for, and you want to make sure it's worth telling. And then for Doomsday, when Downey came back, and the Russos gave me the pitch, the Russos love beating up Steve Rogers. Their favorite thing to do is to just beat the crap out of, you know, like, to them, that's what makes a hero, not someone who never gets punched, but someone who gets punched so many times, but still gets up. So they keep finding new ways to kick his butt, and this one was brutal, and a really, really good examination into his nature, and his values, and so I'll say it's probably something you guys haven't seen yet, but you will. When we first meet him in Winter Soldiers, that's the 1940s, but you've added so many of these different layers to Steve. What did you want to bring to the role that went beyond the page? Again, that's one of the exciting things about coming back for Doomsday, that I feel very at home with the role. I feel very, not just comfortable, but precious. You know, I care about the arc of all these characters, and, you know, we wouldn't be doing it unless there was going to be a really interesting situation to put him in. I've gotten the opportunity, and very fortunate opportunity, to speak with Kevin Feige, and he's, I love that dude. He is so cool, so down to earth, and I don't think anybody gets these characters, any of these characters, really better than him. You've gotten a chance to know him over the years, work with him over the years. Can you talk about working with him as a collaborator? Kevin Feige is the furthest thing from a suit. Kevin Feige is a fan. Kevin Feige would be here right now. He knows things and cares about these things the same way all of you do, and that's why these things have worked. That's why I feel so comfortable with him guiding this ship, because first and foremost, he's a fan. He cares about these characters. He cares about you guys, quite frankly, and that's comforting. You can't fake that. I started off my career as a PA. Oh, did you? I did, absolutely. I know. Who was a dick? No, everybody I've met has been pretty cool. Everybody. Everybody I've met has been pretty cool. But for you, who are some of the unsung heroes on set for you? I mean, the PAs, the PAs. Oh, my God. I'm telling you, man. I love it. But it's true. It's true. I mean, that's why you like being on movies where the folks that might have a little more power understand that and make sure everyone is just as excited to come to set every day as the people that might be more taken care of. So, yeah, thank you. Thank you for your work. Oh, thank you. Thank you for mentioning us. Look, Chris, you have been a delight. Thank you so much for joining us and being gracious with your time. And thank you for doing this, man. Absolutely incredible. Thank you, guys. Thank you all for being here. Everybody, let's hear it for Chris Simons. Let's hear it. Thank you.