Chris Evans — best known as a Marvel superhero, dog lover and Twitter politico — is People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive this year, but he had to wrest the title away from John Oliver and Dwayne Johnson.
And his fans approve the long-awaited honor.
The title was bestowed on the “Captain America” star on Monday’s “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” Colbert briefly pitted Evans against pal and late-night rival John Oliver; however, since Evans wasn’t there in person to accept the title — much to Oliver’s “stop the steal” chagrin — Colbert aired a video package of Johnson sharing the news with the “Avengers” star on the set of their upcoming holiday film, “Red One.”
But Johnson, who scored the title in 2016, didn’t go quietly when passing the sash (yes, there was a sash!) to Evans on set. The “Black Adam” star refused to let Evans call him the “former” Sexiest Man Alive and insisted that he held the title “in perpetuity.” Johnson then asked Evans to say something sexy to the cameras:
“Go vote tomorrow,” Evans said in his signature Captain America voice, referring to Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections.
Evans joins the list of past Sexiest Men, such as George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Michael B. Jordan, Brad Pitt, Idris Elba and last year’s ageless winner, Paul Rudd. (Here’s an explanation of how the magazine makes its annual pick.)
“The Gray Man” and “Knives Out” star, 41, reportedly came close to the title a few times. He also told People magazine that discussing the honorific felt like “a weird form of humble bragging.”
“Really this will just be a point of bullying,” he quipped. “It’s ripe for harassment.”
But fans didn’t see it that way — except for those lobbying for Rudd to keep the title this year, who got the “Ant-Man” star’s name trending online. Here’s what people on social media had to say about the new honoree:
“I approve this message,” wrote “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” Garcelle Beauvais in People’s Instagram comments.
“Oh. My. I’m supposed to function in society after seeing this? That little bit of tattoo peeking out… I’m. So. Thirsty. Congrats,” another Twitter user wrote.
“Inside & out!!!!” added model tessholliday.
“Finally, this was like waiting for Leonardo DiCaprio to get his freakin Oscar,” wrote a Twitter user in the replies of People’s announcement tweet.
“Long long loonnng overdue,” added another.
“God this man is so sexy it kills me he isn’t mine,” wrote another.
“Sorry for my language but…IT WAS ABOUT DAMN F— TIME!!!!” tweeted a fan. “We’ve been waiting a lot of time for this but, this year, it has finally happened. Congrats Chris!!!! But you are the Sexiest Man Alive every single day, at least to all of us.”
“Everything about @ChrisEvans makes him the #SexiestManAlive. His looks are just that delicious cherry on top of all the amazing things that make him who he is!!” wrote another.
Of course, there were detractors too, namely those lobbying for the honor to go to members of BTS MLB pitcher Shohei Ohtani or “Supernatural” alum Jensen Ackles in People’s replies. (Perhaps they missed Evans’ viral Buzzfeed puppy interview last summer.)
Evans told People that he’s happy to be at a point in his career where he can take his “foot off the gas,” but the “Lightyear” star is still busy. He’s filmed three new movies, including 2023’s “Ghosted” for AppleTV+, which he’s also producing, and co-runs A Starting Point, the civic engagement platform that launched in 2020.
“I feel like I have a bit more freedom to take time away from the industry and still find projects that will satisfy my creative appetite when I return,” he told People.
Incidentally, talk of Evans’ breakout role in 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger” also made headlines over the weekend when “Succession” star Jeremy Strong told the Sunday Times that he almost played the Marvel star’s body double in the prequel film.
“They needed someone to play Captain America’s young body, before he turns into a superhero,” said. Strong, who went to high school with Evans. “They said they needed a transformational actor and would use CGI to put the actual actor’s face and voice over my own.”
While Strong turned down the role — even though he admitted he was “broke” at the time — Evans responded by saying, “It just goes to show the industry is so unpredictable. But I’m so happy things worked out, because I don’t think there was ever plan B for Jeremy.”