Chris Evans has been a part of Hollywood's acting scene since 2000, but Captain America may be the last role you ever see him play.

"I've known for a while I wanted to direct," Evans told Variety. "But (time) never really opens up. There's another movie to do, there's another acting job. It just got to a point where I was like, you know what - I have to do this."

Over the winter, Evans made his directing debut with a film tentatively titled 1:30 Train.

"If I'm acting at all, it's going to be under Marvel contract, or I'm going to be directing," he continued. "I can't see myself pursuing acting strictly outside of what I'm contractually obligated to do."

Evans has spent quite a bit of time in the Marvel universe. He played Johnny Storm in two Fantastic Four movies and Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers and Thor: The Dark World. His Captain America role will also be reprised in the upcoming sequels Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Variety reports that he will play the character at least three more times in the "next several years" and as a result feels "somewhat ambivalent about being typecast."

"It can feel like a gilded cage at times," Scarlett Johansson, who will have Marvel's Black Widow on her resumé at least three times including upcoming films. "...At the same time, at the end of the job, there's always a super suit in your future."

Evans hopes to direct another film this year.

"Without these movies, I wouldn't be directing," he admitted. "They gave me enough overseas recognition to greenlight a movie. And if I'm speaking extremely candidly, it's going to continue to do that for as long as the Marvel contract runs."

This is not the first time Evans shied away from Marvel. He turned down a nine-movie and six-movie Captain America contract before being convinced by family, who asked, "Are you sure you're making the right decisions?" said Robert Downey Jr., who plays Iron Man in the franchise.

"I said, 'Look man, you might not like the fact that you've played one of these guys before, but you know, the thing is this can afford you all sorts of other freedoms,'" Downey said.

The 32-year-old says it is possible for him to change his mind about acting one day.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits theaters April 4, 2014. Avengers: Age of Ultron, which also features Johannsson and Downey, premieres May 1, 2015.

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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @SH____4.

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