Despite being in the industry for decades, Chris Evans is by far best known as Captain America. His MCU movies have been the most financially fruitful of his career, and by a long sH๏τ. Of the top 10 highest-grossing films in his career, a whopping nine of them featured him as Captain America.

Avengers: Endgame retired his character as he pᴀssed the shield to Sam Wilson, ending his Steve Rogers tenure in 2019. Since then, one of his first post-Endgame roles was fantastic, playing a key character in Rian Johnson’s delightful mystery movie Knives Out. However, his following projects have been far less consistent.

Lightyear got mixed reviews, while movies like The Gray Man and Ghosted fared even worse. The Red One was better than some of these efforts, but still underperformed on a high budget. This puts Evans in the position of having to redeem his track record outside the MCU. The actor has recently been on the upswing with one of his 2025 movies, and it shows his high potential.

Materialists Was Chris Evans’ Best Movie In Years

It Pushed Him Into A Different Genre

The romance movie Materialists was recently released in theaters. Directed by Celine Song, the film starred Dakota Johnson as a matchmaker who finds herself caught in her own love triangle between characters played by Evans and Pedro Pascal. Materialists got strong reviews, getting an 80% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes.

One of its champions was ScreenRant‘s Molly Freeman, who gave it 9 out of 10 stars and complimented its talented cast. Evans’ performance shone in Materialists, but best of all, it showed what he was capable of in the drama and romance genre. This is one key way for him to step out of the MCU pigeonhole he had been stuck in for so long, and so far, it has been successful.

Honey Don’t Is Another Exciting & Interesting Movie For Chris Evans

The Movie Is Directed By Ethan Coen

After Materialists, Evans will next star in Honey Don’t. Directed by Ethan Coen, the comedy will follow Honey O’Donahue (Margaret Qualley), who is a private investigator in a small town that winds up with a series of deaths linked to the same church. So far, the reviews are not as strong as Materialists. The film has a mixed 48% Tomatometer so far, representing a lukewarm reception.

Nonetheless, Honey Don’t represents a positive step forward for Evans. It gives him the chance to show off what he can do in a wider array of genres, and with some acclaimed directors. Even if it does not land, it continues an interesting career direction for Evans, who even appears to be the antagonist.

After These Movies, Will Chris Evans Ever Return To The MCU?

The Possibility Is Open (Even Without Steve Rogers)

The MCU has big plans for its next phases, so Evans may still find a way to return. After all, Robert Downey Jr. is slated to play Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, despite already having played Iron Man.

If some of Evans‘ other non-MCU work goes as well as Materialists did, however, the actor may be more compelled to stay within the non-franchise space. It will be fascinating to see what he opts for as his career continues, as movies like Honey Don’t and Materialists could hint at his future ventures and interests.