Fresh off expressing an interest in expanding his role as Captain America beyond Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War, Chris Evans has weighed on the hot-button topic that is the future of the superhero genre. As an actor who has portrayed not just one, but two icons on Hollywood silver screen, Evans knows a thing or two about donning famous uniforms, and in an interview with Collider, the actor offered his two cents about where the genre is headed in the not-so-distant future.
In his eyes, Evans believes that it all comes down to how we define superheroes in general, referring to Jason Bourne’s near-superhuman abilities as an example. Then again, the actor acknowledged that audiences could grow weary of the “larger-than-life powers” unless they’re incorporated into the story with a deft touch.
[zerg]Here’s what Evans had to share about the genre as a whole, and how he believes The Winter Soldier‘s Joe and Anthony Russo extract the best out of it.
In terms of superhero in general, existing properties that we know and love, it’s going to be a matter of the tone they strike. You could look at Jason Bourne as a superhero. You could take any superhero movie and if you ground it enough, if you make it real enough—that’s what I think [Captain America: The Winter Soldier directors Joe and Anthony Russo] do really well. Certain superhero movies feel like “superhero movies.” Russo movies almost feel like human stories with a little bit of superhero sprinkled in. So you might get exhausted of the larger-than-life powers I suppose, but as long as the filmmakers keep on reinventing the flavor and the approach and the tone, audiences are going to still go.
Today’s tidbit on the superhero genre – ever the topic of impassioned conversation – arrives not long after Steven Spielberg commented that the superhero film as we know it will go the way of the western, and that it’s only a matter of time before the boom will be followed by the seemingly inevitable bust.
Differing opinions, of course, though it’s easy to see the value in both arguments. Perhaps the best element to really mix things up, though, is competition. For years Marvel has enjoyed the lion’s share of the superhero mind share, and barring the success of the X-Men series, is yet to be confronted with a major competitor. That all changes next year with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, and it’ll be fascinating to see how the genre pans out over the next two-to-three years.
Chris Evans will reprise his role for Joe and Anthony Russo’s Captain America: Civil War when the much-touted threequel lands in theaters on May 5, 2016.