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"Age of Ultron" opens Friday, just as Chris Evans, who plays Captain America, is set to start shooting the third Cap movie, subtitled "Civil War." He announced the beginning of the shoot on Twitter by bidding a tearful good-bye to his between-movies beard:
Dear beard
— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) April 27, 2015
We had a good run, but this is where I leave you. Thank you for braving the Boston winter with me. I miss you already #Cap3Begins
Before that even begins, though, Evans tells Esquire that the "Avengers: Infinity War" shoot — actually two movies that together make up the end of the "Avengers" trilogy — will begin this fall or winter and take nine months to complete. Evans and several other Avengers are going to be doing plenty of shooting leading up to that, too, as the "Civil War" shoot will last until August or September.
"You know, you plan around the Marvel responsibilities. You have to," Evans tells Esquire. After "Civil War," "I've got some downtime and I can do with it as I please. I don't know if I want to take time off or go pursue another directing job or find a movie to act in or, you know, do whatever I'm creatively inclined to pursue or wait, relax, enjoy my life."
Being an Avenger is clearly a never-ending battle. He's just finishing up his "Age of Ultron" press tour duties before starting "Civil War." That long press tour got him in trouble when Evans and Jeremy Renner got a little too giddy talking about Black Widow's multiple love interests in the films, including Hawkeye, Captain America and, with the new movie, Hulk. In an interview with Digital Spy, they responded to a question about Scarlett Johansson's character by calling her a "slut" and a "whore."
Jeremy Renner/Chris Evans interview discussing Age of Ultron, Black Widow
Evans and Renner later apologized, with a statement from Evans calling their comments "juvenile" and "offensive." (Cosmopolitan UK responded to some of the sexism that Johansson deals with as a female lead by flipping the questions normally asked of women and men, asking Mark Ruffalo about clothes and asking Johansson about stunts.)
Cosmopolitan UK interview with Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo
Evans has been maturing in his career — he's become more interested in directing, and in the past has teased about leaving acting altogether. However, this time around he's softened his stance, telling Digital Spy that he loves acting and won't be walking away from it. He's less committal about his future as an Avenger, telling Digital Spy that his contract is up after "Infinity War," leaving it up in the air as to what happens next.
While it may be hard to feel sorry for a guy landing the paychecks Evans is getting, you can use all of his "Infinity War" time to go have a kid, complete a year of college — or finally watch everything in your Netflix queue.