Red One is Chris Evans’ biggest movie of 2024, but the Christmas film unfortunately continues the actor’s poor franchise track record and makes his MCU success more surprising. Chris Evans has been in a lot of popular movies, but his most famous role is obviously Captain America, with his major presence in the MCU helping to define the franchise and bring it continued success until his Avengers: Endgame retirement. However, many forget that Chris Evans has struggled to find successful franchises outside of the MCU, with Red One being the latest in a long line of flops and disappointments.
The cast of Red One is absolutely packed with stars, with Chris Evans playing Jack O’Malley alongside actors like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, J.K. Simmons, Lucy Liu, and more. The big-budget Christmas comedy seemed like it would be the next big thing for Evans after his departure from the MCU, with the film having all kinds of franchise potential. Despite this, Red One was a box office disappointment and a critical flop, with it not being what Chris Evans needed at this time. Interestingly, Red One‘s failure is an eye-opening reminder of how surprising the MCU’s success was.
Chris Evans’ History With Franchises Beyond The MCU Was Not Great Before Red One
He Has Always Struggled To Find Successful Franchises
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is inarguably one of the most successful movie franchises of all time, with it being a massive financial and critical success as well as having a stranglehold on the culture. While the MCU does have a lot of major talent in it, Chris Evans is seen as one of the stars of the MCU, with his Captain America character being part of the main trio of heroes alongside Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor. The MCU is what elevated Chris Evans to the status of an A-list star, which is why reminders of his past franchise struggles are so surprising.
Before and after his time in the MCU, Chris Evans has struggled to cement himself as part of any majorly successful franchise. 2005’s Fantastic Four is the only non-MCU Chris Evans movie to get a sequel that he appears in, although both of these films were critically panned. Meanwhile, movies with franchise potential like Push, The Losers, Lightyear, The Gray Man, and Ghosted haven’t yet generated sequels, with each one of them either being a critical or financial disappointment.
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Chris Evans has managed to be part of the foundations of two major franchises, although he failed to become a recurring part of them. Chris Evans starred in 2013’s Snowpiercer, and while this was a huge critical success that spawned a massively successful TV series, Chris Evans isn’t part of this show. Similarly, Chris Evans was a major part of the original Knives Out, although he didn’t appear in its sequels. Red One was Chris Evans’ latest big chance to establish himself as part of another major franchise, but it doesn’t look like this will be happening now.
Red One Was Supposed To Be A New Franchise For Chris Evans After Leaving The MCU & Captain America
But This Probably Won’t Happen Now
Outside of a brief cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine, Chris Evans has been done with the MCU since Avengers: Endgame, with him leaving Captain America behind. It looked like Red One was meant to be Chris Evans’ big MCU replacement, as it seemed like the film was setting itself up to start a major new franchise. Red One had a massive budget coming out of the gate, and the huge stars and major marketing that surrounded the film suggested that Red One was expected to be a massive success by the studio, warranting multiple sequels and spinoffs.
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The story of Red One even sets up some potential sequels and spinoffs, with the introduction of M.O.R.A. and Red One‘s other mythological creatures creating an easy path forward for future movies. However, the critical and commercial failings of Red One have made a sequel unlikely, with no word about a new Red One project being given yet. Unfortunately for Chris Evans fans, it looks like Red One is dead on arrival, with it being the latest addition to the long list of potential Chris Evans franchises that didn’t go anywhere.
Why So Many Of Chris Evans’ Potential Franchises Never Really Happened
It Is A Variety Of Factors
The continued failure of non-MCU Chris Evans franchises has nothing to do with his talents as an actor. Instead, this pattern is just a combination of several factors that have unfortunately affected many of his movies. In the pre-MCU era, it was incredibly hard to get comic book movie franchises off the ground. While Spider-Man, X-Men, and Blade did succeed, there were far more failures, with the Fantastic Four movies joining the likes of Hulk, Daredevil, Catwoman, and more.
Other pre-MCU franchises just couldn’t find their footing, with some of Chris Evans’ weirder movies not being successful enough to warrant a sequel. The post-MCU franchise failures are more interesting, as it is possible to blame their failures on the MCU itself. The over-reliance on major franchises like the MCU has made it incredibly difficult to get any new ideas off the ground in Hollywood. However, all franchises have to start out as a new idea at some point, and new ideas like The Gray Man or Red One just weren’t able to break through this Hollywood trend.
Chris Evans’ Franchise Track Record Makes The MCU A Huge Outlier In His Career
It Is The Lone Major Success
The fact that Chris Evans has had so many failed franchises is incredibly interesting, as it makes the MCU a huge outlier in his career. Not only is the MCU financially successful, it is one of the most financially successful franchises of all time. Rather than just getting one sequel like Fantastic Four, Chris Evans has appeared in three Captain America movies, four The Avengers movies, and more. Chris Evans’ MCU movies have also all been critical successes, with the franchise making Chris Evans seem untouchable.
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The overwhelming success of the MCU makes it hard to see how much of an outlier Chris Evans’ Captain America role is. However, the failures of Red One act as a tragic reminder of the struggles that Chris Evans has had throughout his career, highlighting just how special the Marvel Cinematic Universe is.
Red One
After Santa Claus is kidnapped, the North Pole’s Head of Security (Dwayne Johnson) must team up with a notorious bounty hunter (Chris Evans) in a thrilling, globe-spanning mission to save Christmas. This action-packed holiday adventure mixes comedy and festive magic, with an ensemble cast that includes Lucy Liu and J.K. Simmons.
- Director
- Jake Kasdan
- Release Date
- November 15, 2024
- Writers
- Chris Morgan , Hiram Garcia
- Cast
- Dwayne Johnson , Chris Evans , J.K. Simmons , Lucy Liu , Kiernan Shipka , Bonnie Hunt , Kristofer Hivju , Nick Kroll , Wesley Kimmel , Mary Elizabeth Ellis , Wyatt Hunt , Lanz Duffy , Marc Evan Jackson , Ashleigh Domangue , Cody Easterbrook , Jon Rudnitsky , Morla Gorrondona , Jenna Kanell , Rod Maxwell , Fedor Steer , Octavia Grace , Matthew Zuk , Cora Kass , Ahmad Ghafouri , Jeff Chase
- Character(s)
- Callum Drift , Jack O’Malley , Santa Claus , Zoe , Gryla , Mrs. Claus , Krampus , Ted , Dylan , Olivia , Young Jack O’Malley , Gene , Uncle Rick , Jamie Hummiston , HIT Instructor , Beef Stew , Ogre Gryla , Krampus Guest , Stage Manager , Cyclops
- Runtime
- 123 Minutes