One of the weird side-effects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is how the actors who have been cast as the various characters (particularly those that have been there since the early days) have now been fully merged with their characters. Tony Stark and Robert Downey, Jr. seem like the same person. When a new Chris Hemsworth movie comes out, people say, “Hey, look, Thor has a new movie!” And Chris Evans, who plays the heroic Captain America, finds himself attempting to influence, educate, and change hearts and minds on the daily, with the help of his fame..and Twitter account.
In a new interview with THR, Evans discusses why he refuses to stay silent in regards to his political opinions and how Marvel Studios has never tried to censor him. Oh yeah, and he also talks (briefly) about the emotional final chapter in his Marvel Cinematic Universe career, “Avengers: Endgame.”
“You don’t want to alienate half your audience,” said Evans, talking about voicing his political opinions on social media and in interviews. “But I’d be disappointed in myself if I didn’t speak up. Especially for fear of some monetary repercussion or career damage — that just feels really gross to me.”
For those that follow Captain America, err, Chris Evans on Twitter, the actor has made no attempt to hide his political leanings, calling out Donald Trump and his allies on a daily basis. And while many people in Evans’ position might think twice about doing so, given the massive studio (Disney) writing his checks, the actor has nothing but support from his studio overlords.
He said, “Marvel has never said anything. On the contrary — when I bump into Kevin Feige [Marvel Studios president] the first thing out of his mouth is ‘Man, I love what you’re doing [on Twitter].'”
“I don’t see it as trash-talking,” said Feige. “I see it as very astute, very honorable, very noble, very Cap-like. Commentary and questioning. I’ve said to him, ‘You’re merging! You and the character are merging!'”
Evans said, “The characters I play do a lot of that heavy lifting. If people knew me — I’m just an asshole.”
Evans is also quick to call out folks that he’s personal friends with, if their political views don’t align with what he feels is right. Case in point, Tom Brady. The New England Patriots quarterback is known to be a friend of Evans, but Brady has also voiced his support for Donald Trump.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I really hope [Brady’s] not a Trump supporter. I’m just hoping he’s one of those guys that maybe supported him and now regrets it. Maybe he thought it was going to be different — and even that bothers me — but maybe there’s a chance now he just thinks Trump’s an absolute dumb shit, which he is. If he doesn’t, if he’s still on that Trump train, I might have to cut ties. It’s really tough.”
But when he’s not talking about politics, all people want to ask Evans are questions about the upcoming “Avengers: Endgame,” which like any Marvel Studios movie has been shrouded in secrecy.
He said, “I can’t believe they even cut together a trailer because so much of it is a visual spoiler. You’ll see. A lot of the characters have…”
“Probably shouldn’t have even said that,” he added.
While not being forthcoming with any real details, the actor does admit that this is a special film for the series, which will span 22 films once ‘Endgame’ is released.
“Man, this one’s really good. I choked up like three times,” Evans said.
“Avengers: Endgame” will hit theaters on April 26.