Casting Captain America - 11 Actors Who Competed With Chris Evans for Role (Including 5 Other Marvel Actors!)

Captain America is one of the most beloved heroes within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that’s partly because the iconic character is so well cast.

Chris Evans suited up as Steve Rogers for the first time in 2011′s Captain America: The First Avenger. He wielded Cap’s signature shield and led the Avengers for nearly a decade before passing on the mantle in 2019′s Avengers: Endgame.

Now Anthony Mackie has taken over the title of Captain America with his character Sam Wilson, one of Steve’s closest allies. He leads Captain America: Brave New World, which premiered on February 14.

All these years later, Chris is still viewed as an example of Marvel’s consistently spot-on casting decisions. However, we came pretty close to having someone else carry the hero’s iconic shield.

He is so well-cast in the role that it’s like Chris is playing himself. But he a initially turned it down not once but twice.

Who might have been cast if he never agreed to lead the Avengers? We did some digging and rounded up 11 actors who were considered for the role.

Interestingly, some of them wound up acting alongside Chris in the MCU. Two of them even yielded Cap’s shield at various points. Another has been named People’s Sexiest Man Alive, just like Chris was in 2022.

Others joined the franchise after he left. Some even had the chance to play roles in other mega-successful franchises, and one of them later revealed that they had to apologize to Marvel after their audition!

Scroll through the slideshow to see who else could have played Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe…