I'm not sure why this keeps happening to actors who play superheroes, but much like Henry Cavill, Chris Evans' facial hair has become an obsession for many fans online.
While Cavill's Superman mustache debacle was an object of ridicule when it was CGI'd out of Justice League, Chris Evans' beard received plenty of positive responses when it first appeared in the trailer for Avengers: Infinity War last November.
In fact, it's fair to say that Marvel fans went a little nuts over the inclusion. Following the open-ended conclusion of his last movie, Captain America: Civil War, Cap appeared in the trailer looking quite a bit different. With his costume darkened, his mask gone and a full beard on his face, it looked like he's been through the ringer.
Regardless, people were happy to see the new look on Twitter:
The trailer obviously hit #1 on YouTube's trending list, and ended up being the most viewed movie trailer of all time within 24 hours, with 230 million views to its name. It was also the most mentioned trailer on Twitter, according to Fizziology. And their stats didn't end there, either. In terms of key moments talked about in the trailer, "Captain America's beard" came in first with over 20,000 mentions just a few hours after the trailer's release.
A lot of the talk about Infinity War, which is going to be the biggest crossover movie event of all time, has been about which characters are going to make it out alive. Adding to the rumors, Evans made some comments recently in an interview with The New York Times, where he said he will be hanging up the shield in the near future.
His contract technically ends after the fourth Avengers film, set to be released in 2019. Last year he said he'd be "open" to sticking around in the role, and a number of actors have been known to re-up their contracts when they run out, but not this time. He is quoted as saying he "has no plans" to return to this world after the as-of-yet untitled Avengers 4, stating that "you want to get off the train before they push you off".
In addition to this, the New York Times revealed something even more serious: his beard has gone, leaving behind what the NY Times called a "formidable mustache". First off Reggie Ugwu, pop culture reporter for the New York times, tweeted out the profile he wrote on the actor. "Would you like to meet Chris Evans's new mustache?" they wrote.
To say his legions of fans are conflicted over the new facial accessory is a severe understatement.
Not everyone was upset about the change, however.
As Jackson McHenry said, Henry Cavill's stache died so that Chris Evans' stache could live, but at least Cavill gave his mustache a brilliant send-off in this Instagram video.