Steve Rogers Who? Bucky What? Defending Chris Evans' 'Captain America' Awareness (Or Lack Thereof)

Thanks to a recent string of interviews at this past weekend's WonderCon in San Francisco, Chris Evans suddenly finds himself at the center of something resembling a geek storm. In the comment section here on Splash Page and across the 'net, fans are lambasting the man who would be Steve Rogers for his unfamiliarity with the character, his history, and iconography.

And all I can think is: Why?

Why care if he couldn't tell Bucky Barnes from Bucky Dent, or Buck Rogers, or Steve Rogers, or Mr. Rogers? Why care if he knows the character at all?

For one, it's ridiculously early in the process, and there is world enough and time for Evans to rectify any knowledge gap if necessary.

For another thing, it's not necessary.

Was "Ghost Rider" better than "The Dark Knight" because Nic Cage knew more about the character than Christian Bale? Was Matthew Goode's Adrian Veidt better than Evans' Johnny Storm?

Don't get me wrong — I want director Joe Johnston to know the character inside and out. I want the writers to know even more. And I want Kevin Feige to be some sort of mad Geppetto, pulling the strings of each individual Marvel franchise into one coherent performance. It's important that each of these individuals know as much about Captain America as is humanly possible.

But Chris Evans? What's important is that Chris Evans knows the story of the character as presented in the movie, that he show internal consistency, that he fully portrays the arc of Steve Rogers in the cinematic universe — and just the cinematic universe — even if whatever backstory he needs to get there doesn't jibe with ours.

It should make no more difference to me whether he knows about "Secret Wars" than it does if Ian McKellen knew about every page of "The Silmarillion," or if Alec Guiness knew about the Council of Coruscant — because the Council of Coruscant, the intricacies of the Silmarillion, and the Secret Wars aren't in the movies.

An actor's job is to embody the character as presented in the film — not in the expanded universe. He needs to (in no particular order): Fit the part in appearance and demeanor; be skillful; show up on time; and know his lines. He needs to portray his character with talent, enthusiasm, and above all, gravitas. (In this case, he also needs to look really, really good in red, white and blue.)

And if he does all these things as well as I think he can, I couldn't possibly care whether he knows the minutiae of the character the way I do. Or even if, before reading the script, he knew who Captain America was at all.

I suspect that what has some fans irked more than anything is that Evans, by admitting his lack of knowledge, is no longer much of a cipher for fans. Comic characters — especially Marvel characters — have always represented comic readers.

Forget that he's impossibly brilliant — Spider-Man is one of us. Forget that he's impossibly rich — Tony Stark shares our problems! Forget that he has impossibly high moral character — Steve Rogers could be anyone!

Well, he's not. Right now, Steve Rogers is a ridiculously talented actor named Chris Evans. And I, for one, trust him.

Agree? Disagree? Let us know what you think in the comment section or on Twitter!

Tags captain america, chris evans, the first avenger captain america