Moon Knight Could Have Featured A Chris Evans Cameo As Old Captain America
Chris Evans recently said that making his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as the Human Torch — the character he played in two non-MCU "Fantastic Four" movies in the 2000s — would be "an easier sell" for him than coming back to it as Captain America. Evans seems content to end his run as Cap where he left it, with Steve Rogers having aged into an old man after going back in time and living happily ever after with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) in "Avengers: Endgame." Currently, Evans has no plans that we know of to return to the MCU in any capacity, cameos or otherwise — but that doesn't mean some MCU writers haven't entertained the notion of bringing back the elderly version of the character.
In a new interview with Discussing Film (via ScreenRant), "Moon Knight" series creator Jeremy Slater revealed that his writers' room once flirted with the idea of having Evans make a cameo as Old Man Cap. This honestly just sounds like wishful thinking on their part and isn't something that appears to have made it past the early discussion stage. Slater is quick to point out that there were only ever two cameos that were under serious consideration for "Moon Knight," and neither one was Cap. He began by saying:
"There were definitely different times in the writing process where we talked about cameos because cameos are one of the most fun things to discuss in a writer's room. What happens if we try to get Chris Evans back as old Captain America? You know, you sit there and play that 'what if' game among your writers."
'The only two that we seriously discussed...'
Last summer, Mark Ruffalo was spotted near the "Moon Knight" set in Budapest, which fueled speculation that Oscar Isaac's protagonist might meet Hulk. If you've seen the show, you'll know he didn't, and it sounds like Hulk wasn't in the running, either. The characters that were considered for a cameo all hailed from "Eternals." Jeremy Slater explained:
"The only two that we seriously discussed? Dane Whitman from 'Eternals' of course, because at the time Steven Grant was going to be working at the same museum. But there was never any logical reason for him to be in the show. As a Marvel fan, I would be frustrated if Dane showed up for another cameo and it didn't progress his story or give us any teasers for the Black Knight. Then we also talked about including the Eternals, specifically Kingo and Makkari. We were originally planning to show the original fall of Ammit and the death of Alexander the Great in a flashback sequence, and that seemed like it could naturally dovetail with an appearance from the Eternals."
Practical budgetary concerns led Slater and the "Moon Knight" team to dismiss the idea of any outside cameos, since they decided their "money would be better spent making Moon Knight as cool as possible versus spending that money to bring in another character." Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige backed them up on this, as he felt the "Moon Knight" story was "standing on its own two feet" and wouldn't benefit from "shoehorning in an unnecessary cameo" such as one where "suddenly War Machine happens to be visiting Cairo." Although Slater was bummed to miss out on the fun of other Marvel characters cameoing in "Moon Knight," he ultimately recognized it was "the right creative decision."