Chris Evans is best known for portraying Captain America, but he's played eight different comic book characters throughout his career. Comic book movie adaptations have been part of the Hollywood system for decades, but they've become more popular than ever before in the last decade. The popularity of them can be attributed to the success of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Fox's X-Men franchise - just to name a few.
As a result, some of the biggest actors in the world have played a comic book character. These movies have made stars out Christian Bale, Robert Downey Jr., Hugh Jackman, Gal Gadot, and so many more, including Evans. His stardom has been elevated over the last decade thanks to his role as Captain America in the MCU. Evans' time in the MCU is over after Captain America's fitting send-off in Avengers: Endgame, but he's already admitted to missing Marvel. One reason why that might be the case is that Evans has sneakily built his filmography by playing multiple comic book characters.
Some actors double-dip in the comic book movie genre, but Evans has taken this to a whole new level. While Ben Affleck (Batman/Daredevil), Zachary Levi (Fandral/Shazam), and Halle Berry (Catwoman/Storm) are a few examples of actors who played two different characters, Evans has played eight different comic book characters during his career. Some are more obvious than others, but here's a guide to every comic book character Chris Evans has played.
Captain America - MCU
Captain America is easily the comic book character that Evans is best known for at this point. Just like in the comics, Evans' version of Captain America is a super-soldier with an unwavering moral compass. He first played Steve Rogers in 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger after nearly turning down the role. Evans went on to star in a complete Captain America trilogy and four Avengers movies. He also filmed a cameo for Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: The Dark World. All in all, Evans made nine appearances in the MCU over eight years and solidified a legacy as a perfect on-screen Captain America.
Human Torch - Fantastic Four
Before joining the MCU as Captain America, the first Marvel character Evans played on the big screen was Johnny Storm aka Human Torch. Evans' debut came in 2005's Fantastic Four, and he returned two years later for the sequel, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. As Human Torch's name suggests, his entire body can become engulfed in fire at will, and these transformations are usually accompanied by him saying, "Flame on." Although these Fantastic Four movies weren't highly praised, Evans was viewed as a bright spot for playing the hot-shot nature of Johnny to life. Human Torch wasn't just the first Marvel character Evans played though, as it is actually the very first time he played any comic book character.
Jensen - The Losers
Evans was also featured in the ensemble for The Losers. The 2010 movie directed by Sylvain White is an adaptation of Andy Diggle's 32-issue series published by Vertigo and DC. Evans played master hacker and master of disguise Jake Jensen in The Losers, which gave him a chance to show off his singing and other skills. The movie also featured Evans' future MCU co-stars Idris Elba and Zoe Saldana, as well as Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who frequently appears in comic book adaptations.
Lucas Lee - Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The final comic book character Evans played before joining the MCU was in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Edgar Wright's adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novel series saw Evans play Lucas Lee, the second evil ex of Ramona Flowers. Lee is the main antagonist of the second volume of Scott Pilgrim graphic novels but only serves as a minor foe for Scott Pilgrim in the movie due to Wright condensing all six volumes into one movie. In both the source material and film, Lee is an arrogant mega-action movie star. This is the only comic book villain Evans has played.
Curtis - Snowpiercer
The first non-Marvel comic book character Evans played after becoming Captain America was in Snowpiercer. Bong Joon-ho's 2013 movie is an adaptation of the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, which was written by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette and published in 1982. Evans played the lead role of Curtis Everett, who was one of the passengers in the back of the train. Curtis doesn't have any usual superpowers but is shown to be a lethal fighter as he helps incite a revolution aboard the train.
Loki - MCU
Captain America isn't the only character Chris Evans has played in the MCU, as he also briefly portrayed Loki on occasion. He did so in Thor: The Dark World and Avengers: Endgame (sort of). Although Evans still has the physical appearance of Captain America in both films, he had to change his attitude for these performances. Both instances have Evans appear as Loki takes the form of Captain America and mocks him. So, even though Evans looks the same as he does in his other MCU appearances, the fact remains that he is playing Loki acting like Captain America.
Nick Grant - Push
Chris Evans' role as Nick Grant in the 2009 film Push is also tied to comic books, but in a different way than the rest. There was no source material for Push when Doug Liman's movie was being developed. So, when Evans was cast in the lead, this was an original character for him to play. This changed as the film continued to move forward, as a prequel comic to the movie was created. DC released the six-issue limited series written by Bruno Redondo, Marc Bernardin, and Adam Freeman in the months leading up to Push's theatrical release. As a result, Nick - who has telekinetic powers - becomes another character for Evans with comic book ties, and this time the character is modeled after him instead of the other way around.
Casey Jones - TMNT
Chris Evans also provided the voice for Casey Jones in the 2007 animated TMNT movie. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were created in comic form in 1984 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. They became so popular that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics were made for the next thirty years and inspired animated shows, live-action movies, and animated ones. Casey Jones made his comic debut in 1985, twenty-two years before Evans would voice the hockey mask-wearing vigilante. Due to the poor reception of TMNT, a sequel was never made, and Chris Evans never got a chance to voice Casey Jones again.