CHRIS EVANS on Thursday announced he has officially hung up his shield. After playing Captain America for nearly a decade, Evans tweeted that it was over. “Officially wrapped on ‘Avengers 4.’ It was an emotional day to say the least. Playing this role over the last eight years has been an honor. To everyone in front of the camera, behind the camera, and in the audience, thank you for the memories! Eternally grateful,” Evans tweeted. The actor previously alluded to retiring the character in a profile in the The New York Times that quoted him as saying, “You want to get off the train before they push you off.” The 37-year-old Evans first played Steve Rogers aka Captain America in 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger.” He would go on to play the fan favorite in “The Avengers” (2012), “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014), “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015), “Captain America: Civil War” (2016), and “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018), as well as cameo in a number of other Marvel films. There was an outpouring of reaction to his tweet, most sad. “I’m not crying. I’m weeping. There’s a difference,” Ryan Reynolds tweeted. “What a run you had brother. Congrats on breathing life into such an iconic character. Keep on keepin’ on,” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson tweeted. Marvel cast Evans in March 2010 at a time when it was unclear if fans would be accepting of the actor, who’d already played Johnny Storm in “Fantastic Four” films in 2005 and 2007. Evans himself wasn’t initially sure if he would accept the role after Marvel offered it to him, but eventually he did, beating out stars such as John Krasinski, Garrett Hedlund, Michael Cassidy, Patrick Flueger, Scott Porter and Chace Crawford. At the time, Evans already signed on to the Anna Faris romantic comedy “What’s Your Number?,” which was scheduled to shoot at the same time as “The First Avenger.” Evans wound up doing both movies. Evans makes his final appearance as Captain America in the currently untitled “Avengers 4,” scheduled to open May 3, 2019.(SD-Agencies) | 