Though he will likely forever be associated with his work as Captain America, Chris Evans the actor has become much more than simply the good guy behind the colorful shield. Just when you think you can peg him as an action star, Evans turns around and simply nails it in genre after genre — romance (“The Nanny Diaries”), mystery (“Knives Out”), comedy (“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”) and drama (“Gifted”). And when future Oscar-winning director Bong Joon Ho needed a hero for his first English-language film, he turned to Evans for “Snowpiercer.” When Evans tried his hand in other media, he scored again, gathering much acclaim for his Apple TV Plus’s limited series “Defending Jacob” and earning a Drama Desk nomination for his Broadway debut in Kenneth Lonergan’s play “Lobby Hero.”
Evans has a huge summer 2022 ahead of him, with two major releases opening within weeks of one another. First up, he provides the voice for the title character in Pixar’s “Lightyear,” the origin story of the beloved “Toy Story” icon Buzz Lightyear which introduces Buzz as a young test pilot who finds himself marooned on a hostile planet and is forced to become a leader in getting his commander and crew back home safely. By contrast to his Pixar heroics, Evans takes a turn to the dark side in Netflix’s “The Gray Man” as a psychopathic black ops mercenary who hunts down a former colleague (Ryan Gosling) who has revealed secrets about the agency that the CIA wishes he hadn’t.
So let’s raise a glass and celebrate the Top 10 Chris Evans movies and TV ranked worst to best.
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10. THE NANNY DIARIES (2007)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Writers/Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini.
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney, Chris Evans, Paul Giamatti, Alicia Keys, Donna Murphy, Nate Corddry.Evans burnished his romantic credentials in this comedy which marked the first of eight collaborations Evans would have with co-star Scarlett Johansson. In this Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini film, Evans plays Hayden, a college graduate who lives upstairs from Mr.and Mrs. X, whose son Johansson looks after as his nanny. Nicknamed “Harvard Hottie” thanks to his looks and his ever-present crimson T-shirt, Evans doesn’t have much to do here except look hot (which he achieves spectacularly), but he manages a real chemistry with Johansson which serves both actors well as their careers progress.
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9. THE LOSERS (2010)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Director: Sylvain White.
Writers: Peter Berg, James Vanderbilt.
Starring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba, Chris Evans, Columbus Short, Jason Patric.Evans delightfully played way-against-type in this action drama as Capt. Jake Jensen, the computer hacker of an elite U.S. Special Forces black ops team. In contrast to the smooth action heroes he would go on to play in his career, Evans dorks out here as a goofball, sporting glasses and a dopey blond goatee. Jake may have little trouble burrowing deep into even the most secure enemy computer systems, but social situations? Not so great. “The Losers” marks Evans’ first successful foray into blending comedic elements with his action characters, a skill he would go on to perfect with Captain America.
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8. FANTASTIC FOUR series (2005, 2007)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Fantastic Four” (2005), “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” (2007). Director: Tim Story.
Writers: Various.
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Kerry Washington.Evans’ first brush with the MCU came in this 2005 adaptation of Marvel’s oldest superhero team which they hoped would begin a film franchise. (It didn’t, spawning only one sequel, 2007’s “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” in which Evans also appeared.) Evans plays Johnny Storm, the impetuous youngest member of the superhero quartet who, as the Human Torch, has the ability to harmlessly engulf his entire body with flame, as well as controlling fire wherever he goes. It’s not a very developed role (particularly compared with his nuanced take with Captain America) but Evans nonetheless makes for a believable superhero.
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7. SUNSHINE (2007)
Image Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures Director: Danny Boyle.
Writer: Alex Garland.
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Chris Evans, Troy Garity, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh.In contrast to the many jocular heroes that Evans has played throughout his career, engineer James Mace in Danny Boyle’s science-fiction thriller “Sunshine” is strictly business. On a suicide mission to reignite the dying sun, Evans’ Mace embodies the gravity with which the mission is being regarded by his crewmates, and even though Evans was only 25 years old at the time he made “Sunshine,” he exudes a command of authority usually only seen in actors far beyond his years. Evans fit right in with his experienced co-stars and under the direction of Danny Boyle, Evans gives what’s arguably the most powerful performance of his still-early career.
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6. GIFTED (2017)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Director: Marc Webb.
Writer: Tom Flynn.
Starring: Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Jenny Slate, Octavia Spencer.Evans had one of his most appealing leads in Marc Webb’s heartwarming drama “Gifted,” in which his Frank Adler is taking care of his late sister’s daughter Mary (Mckenna Grace), who, at age 7, is a child prodigy in math like her mother. Frank wants Mary to have a normal public school education, but Mary’s grandmother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) swoops in and sues Frank for custody. Evelyn aims to take Mary with her to Boston and have her learn away apart from other children, a plan that Frank fights to stop. “Gifted” works in large part thanks to the palpable chemistry between Evans and Grace, a bond that helps to propel the film to its moving conclusion.
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5. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD (2010)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Director: Edgar Wright.
Writers: Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright.
Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Jason Schwartzman.Evans’ gift for high-concept comedy was most memorably displayed in Edgar Wright’s cult classic “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” Though his part as one of the seven evil exes of his beloved Ramona Flowers whom Scott (Michael Cera) must fight to win her heart may be small, Evans absolutely nails the role of leather-clad skate-boarding movie star Lucas Lee, whose every neck crack sends his fans swooning. From his cock-of-the-walk physicality to his faux-Eastwood line delivery, Evans’ Lucas is the walking embodiment of arrogant buffoonery and is deliciously hilarious.
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4. DEFENDING JACOB (2020 TV limited series)
Image Credit: Apple TV+ Director: Morten Tyldum.
Writer: Mark Bomback.
Starring: Chris Evans, Michelle Dockery, Jaeden Martell, Cherry Jones, Pablo Schreiber, J.K. Simmons.The Apple TV+ limited series “Defending Jacob” offered Evans the kind of meaty dramatic role that few of his feature films have provided. As assured attorney Andy Barber, Evans must negotiate a subtle character shift as Andy must go from prosecuting cases to becoming involved with one when his 14 year-old son Jacob is suddenly accused of murdering a classmate. Even as the series centers around a sensational trial, it gives equal attention to Andy’s fraying marriage threatened by Andy’s belief in Jacob’s innocence and his wife Laurie’s (Michelle Dockery) growing doubts. Evans and Dockery both shine, making for a thoroughly relatable couple watching their entire world fall apart.
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3. As Steve Rogers/Captain America in MARVEL films (2011-2019)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011), “The Avengers” (2012), “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014), “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015), “Captain America: Civil War” (2016), “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018), “Avengers: Endgame” (2019).
Writers/Directors: Various.Despite a career filled with a range of performances in a wide mix of genres, Evans will likely be remembered most fondly for he work as Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. In the hands of another actor, Cap could have been played as a by-the-numbers straight arrow, a take that would, frankly, be more than a little boring. What Evans brought to Steve Rogers was a sense of grounded determination (to which we can all relate) that helped to motivate Captain America’s quest for justice. By making Steve Rogers believable, he made Captain America relatable as well, no small achievement in the world of Marvel superheroes.
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2. KNIVES OUT (2019)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Writer/Director: Rian Johnson.
Starring: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Christopher Plummer.After years of playing the upright and stalwart Captain America, Evans reveled in slipping into the loafers of sleazebag extraordinaire Ransom Drysdale, the bratty grandson of mystery novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) who is soon murdered in his palatial home. Ransom holds a grudge against the old man for cutting him out of the will, but, truth be told, Ransom loathes just about everyone in his family with a contempt that Evans milks for all it’s worth. And it takes all of Evans’ considerable charisma to keep from being upstaged by his character’s irresistible eggshell-colored cable knit sweater.
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1. SNOWPIERCER (2014)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Director: Bong Joon Ho.
Writers: Bong Joon Ho, Kelly Masterson.
Starring: Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, John Hurt, Ed Harris.Evans plays a very different kind of a hero in Bong Joon Ho’s acclaimed political sci-fi thriller “Snowpiercer,” in which the last survivors of the apocalypse are crammed onto a train that forever circles the ice-bound earth. The train has a rigid class structure, with the haves living in luxury in the front of the train and the have-nots huddling in the back. Evans’ Curtis Everett is the leader of the lower-class rebels who band together to work their away to the front of the train to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. It’s a quest that in Bong’s hands is a crowd-pleaser of the highest sort, and Evans rises to that standard, delivering the most complex performance of his career.
