Chris Evans Says It Was a ‘Dream’ to Reprise His ‘Fantastic Four’ Role in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’

Note: This article contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine, in theaters now.

Chris Evans lit up the screen one more time as the Human Torch.

The veteran superhero star reprised his role from Fantastic Four as Johnny Storm/Human Torch for Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine. On Wednesday, July 31, he thanked Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and director Shawn Levy for including him in the movie in an Instagram Stories post.

Evans, 43, included a behind-the-scenes photo of the MCU production with Reynolds, 47, Jackman, 55, and Levy, 56.

“Thank you to Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and Shawn Levy for letting me be a part of such an incredible movie!” Evans wrote. “They’re three of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Special thank you to Ryan for making it all happen. Playing Johnny again was a dream come true and he’ll always have a special place in my heart.”

Years before Evans joined the Avengers as Steve Rogers/Captain America, he played the Human Torch in 2005’s Fantastic Four and 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Ioan Gruffudd played Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Jessica Alba starred as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman and Michael Chiklis portrayed Ben Grimm/The Thing in the 20th Century Fox movies.

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Evans wasn’t the only superhero to reprise a role for the third Deadpool installment. Jackman also returned as Logan/Wolverine, seven years after Logan. Jackman exclusively said during PEOPLE’s May cover story that once he “came back to it, it was really fun and [he] was thrilled.”

Jennifer Garner, Wesley Snipes and Dafne Keen also made surprise cameos as their Marvel characters Elektra, Blade and X-23, respectively.

Channing Tatum also thanked Reynolds for casting him as Gambit, an X-Men character he tried to bring to the silver screen until his solo movie was axed in 2019 when Disney bought Fox, according to Variety.

“I thought I had lost Gambit forever. But he fought for me and Gambit. I will owe him probably forever,” Tatum wrote in an Instagram post on Monday, July 29. “Cause I’m not sure how I could ever do something that would be equal to what this has meant to me. I love ya buddy.”

Deadpool & Wolverine premiered Friday, July 26, and earned an estimated $205 million at the domestic box office over the weekend, according to Variety, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter. It has become the biggest R-rated opening of all time. This was a bigger opening than the franchise’s first two films, Deadpool and Deadpool 2, which opened to $132 million and $125 million, respectively.

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Deadpool & Wolverine is now in theaters.