“It was a Nazi super robot”: Captain America 1 Almost Had Chris Evans Fighting an Evil Transformers Style Villain That Was Thankfully Rejected
Chris Evans is a renowned personality in the entertainment industry. The actor has been one of the most prominent faces of Marvel for a long time. Evans started getting attention after playing the character Johnny Storm, also known as the Human Torch, from Marvel Comics in the 2005 superhero movie Fantastic Four. Later, he rose to fame and became the face of MCU by starring as Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, in Captain America: The First Avenger.
The 42-year-old reprised his role as Captain America in several MCU movies, solidifying his position as an A-list actor in the industry. As Captain America, Evans has Thanos’ infinity gauntlet or even aliens assaulting Earth, but long before that, he had to fight other evils like the Nazis. In the first Captain America film script, Chris Evans almost had to fight a giant Nazi robot, luckily, that never made it into the film.
Chris Evans almost fought a giant Nazi robot as Captain America
Chris Evans debuted as the heart of Marvel with Captain America: The First Avenger, which came out in 2011. It started Evan’s nearly ten-year tenure as Captain America, which ended with Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Over the years playing the superhero, the 42-year-old has fought various evils, but before saving the world from Thanos, the actor used to save it from the Nazis.
In the first Captain America film, fans saw the story of Steve Rogers getting his superpowers. The film had everything: Romance, action, a Nazi fight, and almost a giant Nazi robot. The original script of Captain America: The First Avenger featured a fight between Evan’s character and a Red Skull-controlled robot.
Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely cited the huge Hydra robot as the most significant modification they made to the script while looking back on their work. In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Markus said,
“A large chunk of the third act was Cap fighting this robot. It was a Nazi super robot under the control of the villainous Red Skull (Hugo Weaver) called Panzermax.”
The screenwriter added,
“I think eventually it was a budget and time thing. Where it was like, ‘We really can’t be spending that much time.’”
Well, it turned out that neither the money nor the available time would allow for the scene to be filmed, which was probably for the best.
Chris Evans’ tenure as Captain America in MCU
Captain America made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut ten years ago with his pinstripe torso and a star on his chest. With the character, the world was introduced to Chris Evans. The Gifted actor portrayed the Marvel Comics character Human Torch in two Fantastic Four films before playing Captain America in the MCU.
In the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger, Evans donned the Captain America suit and held the shield for the first time. The film explored Steve Rogers’ journey from a thin, bullied orphan in the 1940s to becoming the muscular Captain America thanks to a top-secret serum created by the government. He also commands the American Army in a victorious conflict with the Nazis.
The Ghosted actor portrayed the character for eight years in various Marvel movies and even led the Avengers team before retiring from his duties in a shocking turn of events in Avengers: Endgame(2019). Captain America passed on the shield to Sam Wilson, aka Falcon.
The world is excited to see Anthony Mackie take up the mantel of Captain America in the upcoming film Captain America: Brave New World, which will mark the first Cap movie in the MCU that does not star Chris Evans as Steve Rogers.
Captain America: Brave New World comes out in 2024. Captain America: The First Avenger is available to stream on Disney+.
Source: Yahoo Entertainment
