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Hayley Atwell made good on her threat to storm Chris Evans' Salt Lake Comic Con panel and squeeze his breast.
The "Agent Carter" star sneaked up behind Evans during his Saturday morning panel and surprised him with the attack, to uproarious applause. Only minutes before, Anthony Mackie, who plays fellow superhero Falcon, also surprised Evans and joined him on stage in front of 4,500 excited fans.
Surrounded by his friends and colleagues, Evans was beaming during his first-ever solo panel.
"I've done Comic Cons before, but it's usually work-based," Evans said. "You're promoting a film, or for a specific reason, just getting rushed around. Getting to sign things and take pictures and hug people, you feel it."
Evans tweeted at the end of the day that the experience reminded him of how "gratuitously lucky" he is.
"Wow....I've had the most amazing time at [Salt Lake Comic Con]. I've been to a few conventions before but I've never had the opportunity to interact with the fans on such a personal level," Evans tweeted. "They shared some wonderful stories that I was honored to hear. I'm filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Thank you to all of my loyal, sincere, loving, and passionate fans from the very bottom of my heart."
During his panel, moderator Jay Whittaker and fans peppered Evans with questions about the upcoming "Captain America" sequel, "Civil War." The superheroes are asked to sign accords governing their actions and be held accountable, which creates a schism between Cap and Iron Man, forcing their powered friends to choose sides.
But there's no right side, Evans said.
"Tony actually thinks we should be signing these accords and reporting to somebody and Cap, who's always been a company man and has always been a soldier, actually doesn't trust anymore. Given what happened in Cap 2, I think he kind of feels the safest hands are his own," Evans said. "And these are understandable concerns, but this is tough, because even reading the script, you think I think I agree with Tony in a way, and I do agree that to make this work, you do need to surrender to the group. It can't just be one person saying this is right and this is what we're going to do."
"But Cap has his reasons, he certainly has his reasons, and he is a good man and his moral compass is probably the cleanest," Evans added. "This is a tough thing. This is what made it so interesting while we were filming, and it's hopefully what will make the movie great is nobody's right, nobody's wrong. There's no clear bad guy here. We both have a point of view, which is akin to most disagreements in life and politics."
The movie, out next year, is Evans' fifth — not counting a "Thor" cameo — and he's come a long way coming to terms with his anxiety about the role. When he first put on the red, white and blues in "The First Avenger," he was "riddled with foolish, foolish, regrettable insecurity."
"Now it's become something really special," Evans said, commenting on how Captain America has such an impact on people. "Now that we've had a couple movies, it's been nothing but positivity. On 'Cap 2' or 'Avengers 2,' somewhere in there, you really start settling in and appreciating it and now it's just gravy."
Right before running out on stage, as thousands of people screamed with excitement at a sizzle reel of Evans' heroic roles, Evans said he was getting goosebumps. He said he is so happy now, "[I] feel like I leak gratitude."
Twitter: @MikeyPanda