If the Hollywood Chrises have been popping up in your social media feed a lot this week, and you were wondering which one of them had died, the answer is none of them.
What actually happened is that US screenwriter and producer Amy Berg tweeted photos of the four Chrises – Chris Pratt, Chris Pine, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth – along with the caption “one has to go".
And unfortunately for Guardians of the Galaxy star Pratt, the Twitterverse overwhelmingly decided that he should be the one jettisoned from the Chris Club.
And that should have been that.
However, Pratt’s wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger (of Arnold’s daughter and Kennedy family fame), slid into the comments to declare: “Is this really what we need? There’s so much going on in the world, and people struggling in so many ways. Being mean is so yesterday. There’s enough room to love all these guys. Love is what we all need, not meanness and bullying. Let’s try that.”
However, her comments somewhat backfired, with social media users continuing to debate the topic.
Even Pratt's Avengers co-stars, Robert Downey Jr and Mark Ruffalo, joined the melee, firing back at criticisms being levied at the actor concerning his rumoured political leanings and general silence during the current US election.
Now that you’re all up to speed, let’s take a look at the Hollywood Chrises, so you can decide for yourself who should be kicked out of the Chris Club.
Chris Pine
For many fans, he's the "thinking woman's Chris", and Pine earned himself a lot of feminist brownie points for being confident enough in his masculinity to play the "man-sel in distress", Steve Trevor, to Gal Gadot's butt-kicking Diana Prince in 2017's Wonder Woman.
It was a role that led When They See Us director Ava DuVernay to declare him "president of the Chrises" and pop culture website Jezebel to swiftly follow suit, calling the 40-year-old "the Chris that America needs."
Having shown off his acting chops taking on varied roles such as Scottish king Robert Bruce in Outlaw King, Cinderella's Prince in Into The Woods (give that casting agent a pay rise), and everyone's favourite rogue CIA agent Jack Ryan in Shadow Recruit, he also put his own spin on the cinematic legend that is Star Trek's Captain James T Kirk.
As of today, he has managed to remain wholly unproblematic, with no skeletons tumbling out of his closet.
Chris Hemsworth
The 37-year-old Australian really pinged on to everyone's radar when he won the role of the god of thunder in 2011's aptly named Thor.
Since then, Hemsworth has seen his career and fan base go from strength to strength, thanks to starring roles in the mega-hit Avengers films, and the flair for comedy he showed as the pretty but dumb secretary Kevin in 2016's Ghostbusters.
Moving back to Australia in 2015 with his actress wife, Elsa Pataky, and their three children, he also scored some major popularity points by becoming besties with that other Hollywood favourite, Matt Damon.
Side note: There's a fun Chris connection to be had between Hemsworth and Pine, as Hemsworth had a brief cameo as the heroic George Kirk in 2009's Star Trek, in which he played dad to baby James T Kirk (who was played by Pine).
Chris Pratt
Getting your wife to step in over a fairly innocuous tweet isn’t very Peter Quill of Pratt. Actually, forget I said that because it is pretty solid Peter Quill behaviour, come to think of it.
After all, Pratt's Guardians of the Galaxy character is the guy to blame for Thanos wiping out half the galaxy, and all because he couldn't wait just a few more seconds so that Iron Man and Spider-Man could grab the gauntlet.
Having made his name as Andy Dwyer in fan-favourite TV show Parks And Recreation, before he landed the role in Guardians of the Galaxy, 41-year-old Pratt appeared in the likes of The OC, Bride Wars, Moneyball, Zero Dark Thirty and Jennifer's Body.
With three major film franchises to his name – the Jurassic Park reboot, Guardians of the Galaxy and the Lego movies – there have long been rumours that his 2019 marriage to Schwarzenegger could mean a move into politics is one day on the cards.
Chris Evans
When you're Captain America, you're never going to be in the running to be kicked out of the Chris Club. If anything, you're going to be the one doing the kicking while uttering a well-timed "son, just don't".
Evans, 39, has the role of Cap to thank for launching him into the Hollywood power player stratosphere, because before that he was starring as Johnny Storm the Human Torch in the much derided Fantastic Four, and being called "bland" by the BBC's film critic, Matthew Leyland, for his role in 2004's Perfect Score.
Evans is one of the most politically active stars in Hollywood and has launched his own political news website, A Starting Point. Plus, he uses his fame and platform to do a lot of charity work, like dressing up as the Cap to visit children in hospital. Go Cap!
