During the press tour for “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Chris Evans put a ticking clock on his time with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now, despite earlier claims, the actor is showing signs of devotion to his character and hinted he’d be willing to return to the franchise in Phase 4.

Previously, the 33-year-old actor told Variety that he wanted to retire from acting as soon as his Marvel contract is up. Apparently, he’d really like to focus on more work behind the camera such as directing. Currently he’s scheduled to be in “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” followed by “Captain America: Civil War” and he’s expected to be in at least one of the two-part “Avengers: Infinity War” movies.

“If I’m acting at all, it’s going to be under Marvel contract, or I’m going to be directing,” he told the outlet. “I can’t see myself pursuing acting strictly outside of what I’m contractually obligated to do.”

However, the man who brought Steve Rogers from the comic book pages to the big screen has apparently had a change of heart. Allegedly speaking with Gay Times Magazine (via Nerd Reactor), the actor revealed that, although he wants directing to be in his future, he can’t just abandon Marvel.

“I think it’s almost like high school. You’re kind of always looking ahead, about when you’ll graduate, but then when graduation day arrives you kind of don’t wanna leave,” he reportedly told GT Magazine. “So I wouldn’t be surprised if, once we wrap ‘Infinity Wars’… I am gonna try and focus on directing a bit more, but by no means am I done acting. And if they’d have me back, yeah, I’d probably consider it.”

Odds are good that Evans will have to make his decision soon as things at Marvel Studios are rapidly taking shape for Phase 3. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo are already gearing up to bring one of Marvel’s most beloved storylines to life – “The Civil War.” In it, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) will lead a team of pre-existing Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) heroes against Captain America and a similar team when the government decides that superheroes can no longer have a secret identity and must officially register.

If the movies follow the comic book storyline, bad things happen to Steve Rogers after the big bad super-powered bout. Without going into too much detail, [SPOILER ALERT] Rogers is assassinated while in custody for leading a rebellion against the Registration Act. Although the character eventually comes back through comic-book storytelling trickery, he passes on the mantle of “Captain America” to his best friend, Bucky Barnes, A.K.A. The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan).

So, if the Russo brothers, who are also directing “Infinity Wars,” were planning to put a bullet through Cap’s heart at the end of 2016’s “Civil War,” it looks like Evans may not be as amenable to that idea as people previously thought.

What do you think? Would you like to see Evans’ Captain get retired the same way his comic book counterpart does or would you prefer we stick with him through 2020 and beyond? Tweet your thoughts to @TylerMcCarthy.

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