So in the long, long, very long (grueling) process of casting Captain America for
The First Avenger: Captain America we've heard every possible mid-20's actor in Hollywood from the absurd (John Krasinski), to the obvious (Chris Pine), to the "SERIOUSLY????" (Ryan Phillippe). Well the search is not over yet, but the new rumor is that Marvel has offered the role to former Human Torch Chris Evans.
Marvel hasn't confirmed this yet, and this could go on for a few more weeks, but I can see this actually being true. Now the question is, is this a good idea?
Frankly, as negative as we've been about some of the contenders, Chris Evans doesn't bother me all that much. Am I over the moon about him being cast? No, not at all. Could it be worse? Yes, it really could.
First off I'm not here to claim Chris Evans is a great actor, I'm not even sure I could say good actor, but he's done a lot of work, and some of it hasn't been terrible.
Fantastic Four and
Rise of the Silver Surfer were bad movies, but did he do Johnny Storm an injustice? When I think of the faults of those movies, Chris Evans never comes to mind.
I think the main reason the possibility of him being Captain America isn't so bad is I thought he was really good in Danny Boyle's
Sunshine. A lot of people didn't see it (which is too bad cause it's great!) and I thought Evan's played a completely different character than I was used to, I was able to see that maybe he had a little range.
I think with the huge commitment of doing multiple Cap films plus at least one Avenger film, maybe having someone reliable who doesn't impose a huge personality on the role is the best bet. Captain America is great, and he makes decisions he believes are right, even if they don't reflect the feelings of the current government (
Civil War), but in the end, like Superman, he's kinda boring. Cap's feelings and pathos aren't what makes him great, putting on the red white and blue spandex, grabbing that shield, and punching the Hulk (and Hitler!)... That's what makes him great! Too be honest, when I close my eyes, and visualize Cap, I believe I can see Chris Evans... punching Edward Norton!
