Chris Evans should play a villain in his next movie
Welcome to Chris-mas in July, a week-long celebration of our four favorite Hollywood Chrises. We'll be analyzing old movies, digging deep into past roles, and exploring everything there is to know about Evans, Hemsworth, Pine and Pratt. We hope this totally made up holiday makes you smile.
Forget Captain America. Forget Johnny Storm, even (done). I stan for Chris Evans-as-Lucas Lee, aka Evil Ex #2 in Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World.
This isn't to say that Evans is the best part of Scott Pilgrim. Far from it. But that movie was easily 2010's strongest (Don't. @. Me.), and the fact that Evans is memorable at all is no small achievement.
Lucas Lee is such a delightful character.
Even before Evans became universally recognized as "the guy who is actually Captain America," seeing him step into the role of a villain didn't feel quite right. Being affable and charming is his whole schtick.
The natural charisma that makes Evans such a likable movie star fit for Lucas, a fictional movie star, but Lucas is also a giant dick to everyone around him. That meant Evans had to tap into his dark side. He did it with aplomb.
Edgy Chris Evans may not be the best Chris Evans, but he sure is fun.
He's like a darkest timeline version of himself.
Lucas Lee probably would have made much more of a splash if Scott Pilgrim had come along during Evans' post-Captain America fame. Watching the scene now, you can see how he might have turned out as an actor if the fame and fortune had gotten to him.
He'd be the kind of jerk who calls "action" on set before the director can. Or the kind that lets his stunt team fight his battles, or who subsequently loses said fight when an appeal to his ego goads him into doing something stupid.
Against all odds, Evans is a great villain.
It's probably a bit much to hope that Evans will challenge himself with new, transformative roles while he's still busy riding the Marvel train. That's totally fine. But the dude is going to be at risk of being typecast after he's done with Captain America.
His best bet for shedding that image, I think, would be to shrug off the good guy antics and embrace his dark side once again. Lucas Lee's story may be over, but Chris Evans future as a Hollywood villain has barely begun.
Topics Film
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
