While Chris Evans is best know for playing heroes/do-gooders, including Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and his forthcoming turn as Buzz Lightyear, the man has also dabbled in villainy over the years. Some may know him best in this regard from when he played Lucas Lee in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, while others may have enjoyed watching him cause trouble as Ransom Drysdale a few years back in Knives Out. Evans is putting his antagonist hat back on for The Gray Man, and the actor explained why this character Netflix subscribers will meet in the summer makes such a great villain.
Chris Evans stars in Netflix’s The Gray Man, based on the same-named novel by Mark Greaney, as Lloyd Hansen, who used to work with Ryan Gosling’s Court Gentry at the CIA and leads a manhunt against his former colleague when Court discovers dark secrets about the agency. The Gray Man is directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, who Evans worked with four MCU movies, and the actor had the following to say to Empire about re-teaming with the duo, as well as how Lloyd differs from past roles he’s played:
I love the Russos, and I’ll pretty much do anything they ask me to do. And this is a character I’ve never been able to play. He’s so liberated, and free, and honest. What I like about him is that you should almost fear his smile more than his scowl. I think he understands that what he does is bad and harmful, but I think he considers himself necessary. He thinks he’s a disrupter.
So count on Lloyd Hansen to unleash the chaos in his efforts to apprehend/eliminate Court Gentry. Going off Chris Evans’ description, this sounds like this role could be comparable to Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight, although within the parameters of one intelligence operative looking to ruin the life of another, rather than a criminal mastermind fighting a superhero. In fact, you could consider that similarity strengthened after reading what The Gray Man co-writer Stephen McFeely had to say about Lloyd in this forthcoming addition to the Netflix movies library:
He’s a trainwreck of a human being. That guy can be anything in any scene, because all he wants is anarchy.
Chris Evans also acknowledged that playing Lloyd Hansen has seen him going “aggressively” 180 degrees from Steve Rogers, the kind-hearted and selfless Star-Spangled Man with a Plan who we watched in the MCU for nearly a decade. Yet that sharp contrast just serves as a testament to Evans’ acting abilities. Evans shot The Gray Man in the spring and summer of 2021, and has since gotten rid of the character’s distinctive mustache. But in two months, we’ll see just how much of a disrupter Lloyd is in his efforts to ruin Court Gentry’s life.
The Gray Man premieres on Netflix July 15, and its cast also includes Ana de Armas (this is her second time working with Chris Evans, and they’ve also re-teamed for Ghosted), Regé-Jean Page, Jessica Heniwck, Billy Bob Thornton and Alfre Woodard, among others. While we wait for its arrival, see what else is coming to the streaming service later this year by scanning through the 2022 Netflix movie schedule.
