Chris Evans will go from being the quintessentially American hero “Captain America” to…. the exact opposite? Deadline reports Evans has replaced James Franco in serial killer drama “The Iceman”, starring Michael Shannon in the titular role. The project had been left in limbo when Franco dropped out last month, but now with Evans in, it’s back on track to begin filming next month under the direction of Ariel Vromen.

Based on the book “The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer” by Anthony Bruno and on interview footage from the documentary “The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer” by Jim Thebaut, the film centers around Richard Kuklinski (Shannon), a mob contract killer who was famed for freezing his victims, disguising the time of death and successfully throwing police off his track. Seemingly the very definition of a sociopath, Kuklinski never showed any remorse for the over one hundred people he killed, but conversely was a loving family man who mourned the fact that he hurt his family with his actions. Benicio Del Toro had previously been pegged to play his boss, the notorious mobster Roy Demeo, and Evans will now take over Franco’s role of his mentor assassin, known as Mr. Softee.

Evans failed to ignite as a Marvel superhero back in 2005 when he played The Human Torch in “Fantastic Four”, but he’s definitely making his mark now as a pitch-perfect Steve Rogers aka Captain America, recently wrapping up the role for Joss Whedon’s all-star team-up “The Avengers” in New Mexico. He’s also making a play for darker, more arthouse pictures, as evidenced by this casting in “The Iceman” and his recent portrayal as a drug addict in “Puncture”, in which his performance stunned and impressed audiences and critics alike. Unfortunately, he’s also in the Anna Faris rom-com “What’s Your Number?” but let’s try our hardest to forget about that one.