Warning: SPOILERS for The Gray Man
Can Chris Evans return as the villainous Lloyd Hansen in The Gray Man 2? Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, The Gray Man is based upon the popular series of novels by Mark Greaney. The Gray Man centers on Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling before his casting as Ken in Barbie), the titular character who is an elite CIA operative with preternatural skills as a secret agent. But when Six uncovers evidence of corruption that leads all the way to the agency's chief, Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page from Bridgerton), he goes on the run and is hunted by Hansen, Carmichael's mustachioed and sociopathic hired gun.
The Russo Brothers began working on The Gray Man while they were in production on Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In Evans, the Russos found the perfect person to play the remorseless Lloyd Hansen because the character is the polar opposite of the noble Steve Rogers. Yet the directors saw that the level of physical and emotional control Chris exhibited as Captain America could be unleashed if he played The Gray Man's main antagonist. Of course, Evans has played immoral characters before, such as in Knives Out, but Lloyd Hansen allowed the actor free range to indulge his darkest impulses and portray a character who had no moral or ethical limits. In The Gray Man, Lloyd runs his own shadow company of operatives and accepts secret contract work from Denny Carmichael and the CIA to do jobs for the agency that Carmichael can disavow - such as hunt Sierra Six and retrieve the asset containing proof of Carmichael's dirty deeds.
Lloyd Hansen's rivalry with Sierra Six results in the two of them going mano-e-mano, with the Gray Man coming out on top. Both operatives endure all manner of physical abuse, and Hansen pays for his sins by being grievously injured and having his fingers blown off by Claire Fitzroy (Julia Butters), the niece of Six's mentor Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thronton). But it isn't Six who ultimately kills Lloyd, it's Suzanne Brewer (Jessica Henwick from The Matrix Resurrections). Suzanne tolerated Lloyd's insanity after Carmichael sent her to oversee him but she saw a way for Hansen to take the fall for all of their crimes, so Brewer killed Lloyd herself. Hansen got his just desserts and the bad guy dies at the end of The Gray Man. Yet Chris Evans' slimy villain is the most entertaining character in The Gray Man. Despite being dead, there are ways Evans can return as Lloyd Hansen in a sequel.
While Lloyd Hansen is dead thanks to a gunshot wound to the torso inflicted by Suzanne Brewer but there's a chance The Gray Man 2 could retcon Lloyd's demise. It's possible the sequel could reveal that Lloyd somehow survived and it was kept secret from Suzanne by Denny Carmichael. After all, The Gray Man established that all three were friends and star students at Harvard. The trio entered the CIA together, with Hansen proving too extreme for the agency and washing out but staying connected to Carmichael, who had a meteoric rise along with Suzanne. If Lloyd survived and returns in The Gray Man 2, then Suzanne is in just as much trouble as Sierra Six since there's no question Hansen would want vengeance for Brewer "killing" him.
Another possibility would be for The Gray Man 2 to use flashbacks to depict the Harvard University days and infiltration of the CIA by the younger Lloyd, Denny, and Suzanne. This would allow Chris Evans to come back as well, albeit digitally de-aged. In that same vein, since The Gray Man aims to be the start of an expanded cinematic universe, The Gray Man prequel already in development with Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick attached could tell the story of Hansen, Carmichael, and Brewer's CIA takeover under the guidance of their mysterious mentor, The Old Man, who wants to institute a shadow government within the United States. There are certainly ways Chris Evans could be back as Lloyd Hansen in future The Gray Man movies and it wouldn't be a surprise if he is.
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