SPOILER ALERT: This contains minor SPOILERS for ‘Avengers: Endgame’ so proceed with caution.
Perhaps one of the things that make ‘Avengers: Endgame’ such a crowdpleaser is that it manages to successfully juggle heartbreaking drama with the requisite laughs that make these films so endearing. One of the biggest laughs comes during the second act’s “time heist,” after Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) gets a look at himself and his fellow Avengers from seven years ago, including Captain America (Chris Evans) in– let’s face it– his ugliest costume, the spandex number from the first ‘Avengers’.
Stark remarks, “That costume did nothing for your ass.” (Paraphrasing, based on memory.) But Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) jumps to his defense, declaring it “America’s ass.”
That alone was pretty comical, but it got an even bigger reaction after Cap finds himself fighting himself from seven years ago. Modern Cap has come a long way since being that time-lost, naïf. (“Language!”) He actually plays a little dirty to distract his younger self to get the upper hand. With younger Cap passed out on the ground, Modern Cap takes a good look and reacts, “That IS America’s ass.”
Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely sat down for a lengthy interview with the LA Times, and among the many topics they discussed was that “America’s ass” bit.
McFeely stated:
“It’s a little meta. Chris Evans has never been comfortable with that outfit from the first ‘Avengers’ movie. And so in the rearview mirror, it’s a little way to wink at how that was then and this is now. And then it sort of just built from there. By the time we got to the fight scene where he defeated himself, his butt is on the ground and was just sitting there for a callback.”
As for why Evans wasn’t a fan of that costume, in particular, Markus replied:
“I think it’s the color, but also his ears are covered in that outfit. When he puts on the helmet, he has these little Princess Leia dents over his ears and it throws the whole thing off. You wouldn’t normally think that an ear is an important part of an outfit but it balances everything in a way that when they go, you look dorky.”
Hey, at least he didn’t have molded rubber ears, painted flesh tone, like the costume in the unreleased movie from the ’90s.
Sadly, Chris Evans has hung up every Cap costume for good, and Markus and McFeely sent him off in perhaps the best way possible. And hey, as he walks off into the sunset, at least fans have a nice view as they wave goodbye.
‘Avengers: Endgame’ is now playing in theaters everywhere.
