Chris Evans denies rumours of Captain America return: 'News to me'

The news of Chris Evans’s potential return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Captain America sent social media into a frenzy last night.

Deadline reported that Marvel and Evans are closing in on a deal for the 39-year-old actor to return “in some form” to the iconic role.

The article suggested that this would likely take the form of something akin to Tony Stark’s extended cameo in Spider-Man: Homecoming, rather than a fresh solo outing for Captain America.

Read more: Evans turned down Cap role due to anxiety

As for the man himself, though, he seems less than convinced that he needs to take the vibranium shield out of storage.

Evans tweeted to his 14 million followers that the revelation was “news to me” and added a shrugging emoji for good measure.

This would appear to pour cold water on the theoretically exciting news, but it would not be the first time Marvel stars have engaged in trickery to conceal superhero surprises.

Just recently, She-Hulk star Tatiana Maslany denied she was involved in the show, despite a tweet from Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo welcoming her to the family.

Read more: What did Captain America do in the past?

Evans said in May last year that he was not keen to return to the MCU fold after Cap’s touching farewell in the final moments of Avengers: Endgame.

After travelling back through time to return the Infinity Stones to their original timelines, Steve Rogers chose to stay with first love Peggy Carter and was seen appearing as an old man in the final scenes, handing over his shield to Anthony Mackie’s Falcon.

The actor said it would be “risky to revisit [the character]” after ending on such a strong note.

Watch: Son of Captain America creator denounces Capitol rioters

A hint of some possible regret, though, came through in the summer when Evans admitted that he misses playing the role, despite his new career possibilities.

“I absolutely loved my time with Marvel,” he said. “I already miss it, but there’s no denying that it is very exciting to just have complete freedom to pursue whatever my creative appetite wants.”

Read more: Evans sends Captain America shield to dog attack boy

Evans has already lined up a handful of very interesting jobs, in addition to his turn as a district attorney defending his own son in Apple TV+ series Defending Jacob.

He will portray the human inspiration for the iconic Toy Story action figure in Lightyear for Disney, as well as teaming up with Adam McKay for star-studded Netflix film Don’t Look Up.

Evans has also signed up to unite with Ryan Gosling for actioner The Gray Man — set to be Netflix’s most expensive movie to date.

Watch: Kevin Feige discusses WandaVision and MCU future