Knives Out’s Chris Evans Shares Idea For A Return To The Franchise, And Sign Me Up

Chris Evans in Knives Out
(Image credit: Lionsgate)

Actor Chris Evans is a wildly successful movie star, whose career was seriously boosted thanks to his tenure playing Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His time with the shield has come to an end, and he’s got a number of exciting projects coming down the line. It turns out that Evans has an idea for a return to the Knives Out franchise, and sign me up. After all, who doesn’t want to see more of the villainous Ransom Drysdale, complete with that signature white sweater?

2019’s Knives Out was a massive success, and filmmaker Rian Johnson has been expanding that burgeoning universe into a franchise, starting with the first follow-up flick Glass Onion. So far Daniel Craig’s protagonist Benoit Blanc is the only character who returned in the movies, as Johnson is seemingly creating an anthology series. But Chris Evans recently appeared at C2E2 in Chicago (via ComicBook), and offered an idea for how he might be able to return. As he put it,

It can't be like a redemption story. No one wants to see Ransom find redemption. Maybe he gets out of jail off of like some sort of like high priced lawyers loophole. But then like, maybe he goes good. Yeah, I mean, like Sideshow Bob, like runs for office. But it's an elaborate plan to actually take down Benoit Blanc and Marta. It's revenge in plain sights. You know what I mean?

Some serious points were made. Ransom is objectively a bad person, even before it was revealed that he was indeed the person behind his father’s death in Knives Out. So if he returned for another movie by Rian Johnson, Evans doesn’t want to see any sort of redemption for that spoiled murderer. Instead, he wants to play the same character we love to hate. And I’m personally putting my support behind that concept.

Chris Evans’ comments are sure to excite moviegoers out there, who are already excited to see what Rian Johnson will bring to the table with his second Knives Out follow-up. Glass Onion was a wild success when it was released on Netflix, and it seems like the Last Jedi filmmaker is committed to growing the property. Indeed, he was already cooking up ideas for the threequel when releasing his sophomore whodunit. 

Per the Captain America actor, he could see Ransom returning to Knives Out thanks to some trick legal strategy that might only be accessible for a super rich person like Chris Evans’ character. And since the ending of the first movie saw Ana de Armas’ Marta seize control of the mansion and the Thrombey family fortune, Ransom would probably be out for revenge. So his idea will also require the Blonde actress to return as well. For her part, de Armas seems down to reprise that role. We’ll just have to wait and see what Johnson has up his sleeve.

Rian Johnson’s continued commitment to Knives Out has fans wondering if his announced return to Star Wars will ever happen. Lucasfilm recently announced a new trilogy, none of which will be helmed by the Last Jedi filmmaker. Fans will have to patiently wait for what’s to come, and see if Chris Evans ever returns as Ransom.

As for Evans, he has some exciting projects coming down the line including Red One with Dwayne Johnson. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.