Chris Evans Was Asked If He'd Play Captain America Again And His Answer Was Kinda Great But Kinda Awkward

    Opening up about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson shed some light on how the cast felt in the early days of the franchise, noting that everybody felt "uneasy" about the "absurd" concept.

    Ben Henry
    by Ben Henry

    BuzzFeed Staff

    It seems strange to think that there was once a time when the Marvel Cinematic Universe wasn't a multibillion-dollar pop culture phenomenon. But, before its success, it turns out that even the cast was worried about attaching themselves to the franchise.

    Marvel

    In a sit-down conversation for Variety's "Actors on Actors" series, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson opened up about the MCU, revealing their initial concerns over joining the superhero films back in the day.

    Variety

    Speaking about the pressure of taking on a major role for the Marvel movies, Scarlett said that the decision could've actually been "career-ending stuff" if it hadn't turned out the way it did.

    Marvel

    "You don’t know how it’s gonna go," the actor who portrays Black Widow said. "It seems ridiculous now because of how successful the Marvel stuff is, but it could be, like, career-ending. It felt like that at the time, if it went the wrong way."

    And it turns out that Scarlett wasn't the only one feeling the pressure. According to her, the entire cast felt "uneasy" while filming the first Avengers movie because the concept of Marvel's master plan seemed so ludicrous.

    Marvel

    Scarlett said: "When we went on to do Avengers, the first one, all of us were totally... I think everybody was feeling very uneasy about the concept. It was just so absurd."

    Chris agreed, noting the first Avengers movie in particular was where everything could have fallen apart.

    Marvel

    "It was a big, big endeavour," he said of the first movie that brought the superheroes together. "This is it, this is the moment. If this doesn't work, this pipe dream that we've been hearing about could derail very quickly."

    However, revealing he was "blown away" by the reception to Avengers, Chris went on to say that afterwards, he knew there was a "big chance" that the rest of the franchise would be a huge success.

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    Surprisingly, it actually turns out that Chris took longer than you might expect to settle on playing Captain America, a role he apparently turned down multiple times.

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    But would he go back to Marvel and pick up the shield once more? Well, after awkwardly avoiding the question and then being reminded to answer it by someone off-screen, Chris...still didn't really answer the question.

    Variety

    "You know, you never say never. I love the character," he said, which isn't a cliché at all. "It's not a hard no but it's not an eager yes either. There's other things I’m working on right now."

    Chris went on to explain that he's "very protective" of the role and wouldn't want to "sour" it. Not to mention that — spoiler alert — Cap is now an old man.

    Variety

    "I think Cap had such a tricky arc to stick the landing and I think they did a really nice job letting him complete his journey," Chris explained. "If you’re gonna revisit it, it can’t be a cash-grab, it can’t be just because audiences would be excited."

    "A lot of things would have to come together," he continued. "It doesn't feel at this time like that would be the thing that I'm looking to do."

    But will that be the last time we see the Avengers all together again? Well, not so fast. Chris and Scarlett revealed that there are talks of an Avengers cast vacation to celebrate the franchise's success.

    "I keep saying that!" Chris said. "We’ve been trying to organise this Avengers vacation. We deserve it. A little victory lap."

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    I, for one, would love to see it.

    You can watch Chris and Scarlett's full Variety interview here.