![Chris Evan in Pain Hustlers (left) and The Gray Man (right)](https://www.usmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Chris-Evans-Most-Villainous-Roles-Post-Captain-America.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all)
After Chris Evans said goodbye to Captain America, it was time for a change – a dark, evil change.
“It seems like I’ve done an aggressive 180 [degrees] by Steve Rogers,” Evans admitted rich in May 2022. “But it just unfolded that way.”
Cap was the epitome of a good guy. From risking his life for others long before he became a super soldier, to time traveling to save the world, Steve would do whatever it took to do the right thing. However, after playing Captain America for a decade in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, Evans hung up his shield in the 2019 film. Avengers: Endgame.
His first post-Marvel role came in the star-studded mystery Knives out. He called his character ‘different’ during a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter prior to the film’s release. “In the Marvel movies I play a guy who’s a little more silent and selfless, and in this movie I play a guy who’s a little meaner,” Evans teased.
Scroll down to see all the villains Evans has played on the big screen since leaving Marvel.
![Chris Evans in Knives Out](https://www.usmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Chris-Evans-in-Knives-Out.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all)
Ransom Drysdale Knives out (2019)
Ransom is the black sheep of the Drysdale family. After his wealthy grandfather suddenly dies, Ransom only wants to make sure he gets his inheritance. But don’t let the cable-knit sweaters fool you. He will do anything to make sure he receives his “birthright,” as long as it doesn’t mean having to have a real job.
Evans begged to play the spoiled brat. “I don’t even think I let him speak,” Evans said of his first meeting with Johnson. “I think the whole time I was just chatting about what I wanted to do with the role and what I thought I could bring and please cast me. It was just nice of me to just speak to him, just beg.
![Chris Evans in The Gray Man](https://www.usmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Chris-Evans-in-The-Gray-Man.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all)
Lloyd Hansen The Gray Man (2022)
This Netflix film reunited Evans with Marvel directors Anthony Russo And Joe Russowho joked via X (then known as Twitter) that they were “changing @ChrisEvans from America’s Ass to America’s A—–e.”
Evans grew a mustache as he played this hitman determined to eliminate Ryan Gosling‘s Sierra Six. They were CIA agents together – until Hansen developed psychopathic tendencies and was kicked out. He takes a child hostage to gain the upper hand and kills anyone who gets in his way.
During a promotional press conference The Gray Man, Evans admitted that he had a blast portraying the villain. “Playing a villain is always a little more fun. You have a little more freedom, you get a lot more jokes,” he said via ScreenRant.
![Emily Blunt and Chris Evans in Pain Hustlers](https://www.usmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Chris-Evans-and-Emily-Blunt-in-Pain-Hustlers.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all)
Piet Brenner in Painkillers (2023)
Evans plays a flashy pharmaceutical salesman in this Netflix film, which is loosely based on a true story. “It was a joy to cast Chris Evans for this, because his clean-cut, alpha-male, heroic attitude is completely turned on its head when you cast him as a sleazebag pharmaceutical sales rep,” says director David Yates said Netflix’s Tudum. “I had seen him do a few things that really surprised me before. I like to see an actor do something surprising.”
Pete pops into Liza Drake’s (Emily Blunt) life if she is hanging by a thread. After losing her job and her daughter’s medical bills mounting, she takes the opportunity to join Pete’s dangerous extortion scheme. But don’t make the mistake of thinking Pete feels sorry for Liza.
“Everything in Pete’s life is transactional,” Yates added. “It’s all about sales. He doesn’t really have any deep connections with anyone, other than the idea of getting the right grades. So there is a superficiality in him, but there is also a vulnerability in him. He is also very entertaining because he is completely unfiltered: loud, brash, profane.”
Painkillers premieres on Netflix on October 27.