Though most famous for his role as Captain America in the MCU, Chris Evans got his start in Hollywood in comedy movies. He wasn’t afraid to be the butt of the joke, sometimes literally!
Steve Rogers’s return to the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday has everyone focusing on Chris Evans again. But as serious and earnest as his Captain America famously is, he’s also a notable comedic actor. He even got his start in film by starring in parody flicks and rom-coms.
Evans’s Steve Rogers may have had countless funny moments throughout his MCU run, but he is downright hilarious in his more straightforward comedy films. He didn’t mind starring as the comical villain in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, for instance, which has since become a cult classic. And he made audiences swoon as the romantic lead in What’s Your Number? opposite Anna Farris.
1. Not Another Teen Movie (2001)
Marvel fans couldn’t have imagined that Captain America once starred in a slapstick parody film. One of Chris Evans‘s first notable performances was Jake Wyler in Not Another Teen Movie, which spoofed countless teen flicks from the 80s and 90s. Wyler was the stereotypical popular jock who aimed to turn the nerdy, artsy girl, Janey Briggs, into the beautiful prom queen.
Even at the beginning of his career, Evans was already showing off his comedic chops. He likely caused countless sexual awakenings, too, when he famously stepped out in nothing but whipped cream covering his nipples and genitals.
2. The Perfect Score (2004)
Before Captain America and Black Widow, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson already starred in a film together: The Perfect Score. This comedy caper tells the story of six New Jersey high school students going on a heist to steal the answers to their upcoming SAT exam. Though not strictly a parody film like the previous movie, The Perfect Score does take inspiration from beloved flicks like The Breakfast Club (1985) and Dazed and Confused (1993).
The film isn’t exactly well-reviewed, but it’s another great example of how well Evans can do comedy. It’s also the first of his nine collaborations with Johansson, a majority of which are their MCU movies together.
3. Fantastic Four (2005)
True Marvel fans know that Captain America wasn’t the first Marvel superhero Chris Evans portrayed on the big screen. In 2005, he starred as Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, in Fantastic Four. Fans and film pundits alike even regard it as his breakthrough performance, though it would take six years for him to begin his turn as Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).
The movie, and its sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), isn’t a straight-up comedy like the others on this list, but Evans undoubtedly brought out the laughs in both films. He was funny and heroic in equal measure, a nice sneak peek into how well his Captain America will turn out in the MCU.
4. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
Could you ever picture Chris Evans as a villain? You would if you saw Scott Pilgrim vs. the World! Before starring as the noblest Marvel superhero the following year, Evans played one of Ramona Flowers’s seven evil exes battling the titular Scott Pilgrim for her affections. His character, Lucas Lee, is a Hollywood movie star—talk about meta!
The movie has since become a cult classic, and is one of Evans’s very few turns as the bad guy. He also camped it up in line with the video game-inspired vibe of the film, but was still as funny as ever!
5. What’s Your Number? (2011)
The hunky and handsome Chris Evans in a rom-com? Yes, please! Despite having the perfect looks for it, the actor surprisingly has very few rom-coms in his filmography. But when he did them, he knocked it out of the park. One of the best examples is What’s Your Number? in 2011, co-starring the ever-charming Anna Farris.
In it, he plays Colin Shea, the womanizing roommate to Farris’s Ally Darling. After reading a Marie Claire article about how the number of sexual partners you’ve had affects your chances of finding love, Colin helps Ally track down her exes. And naturally, they gradually fall in love in the process.
6. Playing it Cool (2014)
Speaking of Chris Evans in rom-coms, it doesn’t get any more meta than Playing it Cool. Here, he plays an unnamed screenwriter who gets pressured to—wait for it!—write a romantic comedy for his next film project. The only problem is that he doesn’t believe in love.
So what does he do? Fall in love, of course! The screenwriter begins to change his cynical views on romance when he meets “her,” the unnamed romantic interest played by Michelle Monaghan, and develops a close friendship. He then tries to navigate his feelings for her upon discovering that she’s already engaged.
7. Honey Don’t! (2025)
Evans took another turn at villainry in the 2025 comedy-mystery flick, Honey Don’t! A total departure from his clean-cut Captain America image, the actor portrays the charismatic but suspicious Reverend Drew Devlin, leader of a mysterious church connected to a string of strange deaths.
Unlike his more comedic and camp character in Scott Pilgrim, Evans goes full-blown bad guy here, but remains hilarious. His performance leans into the cult leader archetype, with influences from Jim Jones and Jimmy Swaggart, among many others.
Chris Evans may not be as funny in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, but he’s sure to captivate audiences again with his beloved Captain America. The film is set to premiere on December 18, 2026.
Sources: Flickr.com/ Chris Roth, Sony Pictures Entertainment Official YouTube Channel, Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers Official YouTube Channel, Universal Pictures Official YouTube Channel, 20th Century Studios Official YouTube Channel, Voltage Pictures Official YouTube Channel, ONE Media Official YouTube Channel
