Casting Captain America - 11 Stars Chris Evans Competed With to Play the Marvel Hero (Including a 'Twilight' Actor & Another of People's Sexiest Men Alive)

Chris Evans‘ is a true fan-favorite within the MCU for his portrayal of Captain America.

Casting him as Steve Rogers took his star power to the next level and is widely regarded as one of Marvel‘s best casting decisions. However, we came pretty close to having someone else carry the hero’s iconic shield.

The actor is so well-cast in the role that it’s like he’s playing himself. But Chris initially turned it down.

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…