Chris Evans ruled social media this past week. First, everyone on Earth wished him a happy birthday. Then, we saw what appeared to be a photoshopped picture of him with Disney characters, and the week closed with his adorable Puppy Interview with BuzzFeed. In between all of this, he has been making the rounds in the press for his newest role, voicing Buzz Lightyear in the recently released Lightyear.
In one interview, MTV asked Evans about his future with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Evans became a household name when he played Captain America/Steve Rogers in ten Marvel films. Although Steve Rogers’s story basically ended with Avengers: Endgame, the new multiverse take on characters could open up future appearances for Evans in the role. Evans reiterated he had completed his arc as Cap, but there was another he would be willing to revisit: Johnny Storm.
A Fantastic Idea
To many, Chris Evans has become synonymous with Captain America. When they picture Cap’s face, they conjure up Evans in costume, instead of a comic book version of the character—and rightfully so. Evans brought a lot of heart to the legendary figure. However, many people forget that Evans played another Marvel character in 2005, six years before he picked up the iconic shield.
In the much-criticized Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Evans starred as Johnny Storm, also known as the Human Torch. Putting it nicely, Evans said that his first Marvel role was before the films “found their footing.” Fantastic Four was a failure. Even now, on RottenTomatoes.com, the film has a terrible 28% critic score and 45% audience score. As a devoted Evans fan since I saw him in 2001’s Not Another Teen Movie (in the theaters, no less) and a lifelong Marvel fan, I saw both movies, and they were bad.
Yet, Evans was great. In the comics, Johnny Storm is the kid brother of scientist Sue Storm. He likes fast cars and charms everyone within a 4-mile radius, and Evans captured this essence perfectly. After an ill-fated trip to space, the Fantastic Four became the world’s first superhero team. Johnny could ignite himself with his trademark phrase (“Flame on!”), control the flames, and fly. He is a pretty cool character, and Evans would still be a great older version of the character, despite that he pointed out that he played the character almost twenty years ago and looks a little different now. (We don’t mind, Chris, really.)
In the years since Evans played the Human Torch, Fox’s filmmaking arm (which has since come under the ownership of Disney, along with most of Marvel’s other characters) tried to make the Fantastic Four work again in 2015, with Michael B. Jordan in the role. That didn’t go much better than the previous attempt. So, now that they have the rights to the characters, Marvel is working on a third try, but despite John Krasinski’s appearance as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we still don’t really know what’s in store as far as casting. Evans probably wouldn’t fit for this movie, but with the multiverse open, who knows what the future could bring? I think Evans and his fans would love even a small cameo. No matter what, he’ll always be my favorite flaming hot superhero.
(featured image: Marvel)
