Chris Evans plans to quit acting when his current run as superhero Captain America comes to an end, according to a new profile piece in Variety.

The 32-year-old actor recently completed work on his directorial debut, the microbudget romance 1:30 Train. He sees his future behind the camera once he has completed the final three films of a six-movie contract as the superhero for Disney-owned Marvel Studios.

"If I'm acting at all, it's going to be under Marvel contract, or I'm going to be directing," said Evans. "I can't see myself pursuing acting strictly outside of what I'm contractually obligated to do."

The Boston-raised actor said he had known for some time that he wanted to direct. He admitted the increased profile afforded him by appearances in movies such as Captain America, its forthcoming sequel The Winter Soldier and 2012's $1.5bn superhero ensemble piece The Avengers had helped him get a foot on the ladder as a film-maker.

"Without these movies, I wouldn't be directing," Evans told Variety. "They gave me enough overseas recognition to greenlight a movie. And if I'm speaking extremely candidly, it's going to continue to do that for as long as the Marvel contract runs."

Captain America: The Winter Soldier sees Evans battling the titular mysterious Soviet-era Russian agent with help from Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow. Also starring Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie and Robert Redford (as a high-level operative at superhero agency Shield), it's due out in UK cinemas today, arrives in Australia on 3 April and hits the US a day later.

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