Chris Evans expects to leave MCU after ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
US ACTOR Chris Evans says that his appearance as Captain America in a 2019 “Avengers” crossover movie may well be his last Marvel Cinematic Universe outing.
Having been part of Marvel’s comic book movie franchise since 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger” — the character’s shield first appeared all the way back in 2008’s “Iron Man” — Evans now expects an untitled May 2019 “Avengers” movie to mark his last on-screen appearance as Captain America.
April’s “Avengers: Infinity War” will be his eighth time playing the character on film, including roles in solo projects, crossovers large and small, and post-credits cameos.
“Avengers: Infinity War” and its sequel were filmed concurrently in 2017 and bring Evans to the end of his Marvel Studios contract.
“He has no plans to return to the franchise ... and expects that planned reshoots (for Avengers 2019) in the autumn will mark the end of his tenure,” the New York Times wrote as part of a wideranging profile piece.
“You want to get off the train before they push you off,” Evans had told the publication.
Marvel has been introducing a new generation of heroes and heroines since 2015’s “AntMan” — or, arguably, “Guardians of the Galaxy” the year before.
“Ant-Man” marked the end of the second phase of a broad, three-phase plan for converting Marvel’s comic book back catalogue into a multi-character, multi-billion dollar franchise of interconnected films.
Phase three began with “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016, with Doctor Strange, Spider-Man and Black Panther among the debutants receiving their own solo movies before “Avengers: Infinity War.”
The Wasp joins Ant-Man as a title character in July 2018, with a Captain Marvel film due two months before that “Infinity War” sequel, bringing us to the end of Phase Three but not the end of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe; Marvel Studios has staked out theatrical release dates for another nine untitled films from 2020 through to 2022, and planned storylines to see it through to 2028.
Evans has already signed up for “Jekyll,” inspired by the Robert Louis Stevenson novel “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” and directed by Ruben Fleischer of “Zombieland” and “Gangster Squad.”
In addition, he has been working with “Homeland” writer and “Dig” director on “The Red Sea Diving Resort,” co-starring Haley Bennett, Michiel Huisman, Michael Kenneth Williams and Ben Kingsley. That’s currently thought to be tracking for a 2018 release, though early 2019 might be more likely. — Relaxnews