Chris Evans is PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive 2022

PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive is adding a real superhero to its ranks, as Chris Evans has been named this year's honoree.

"My mom will be so happy," Evans tells PEOPLE of being named the 2022 Sexiest Man Alive. "She's proud of everything I do but this is something she can really brag about." And he's right: his mom Lisa tells PEOPLE, "I am not surprised at all. Our family will be beside themselves."

"This whole thing is tough to be interviewed about," Evans says with a laugh. "It feels like a weird form of humble bragging." He adds that if you were tell a younger version of himself this honor would one day be his, "he'd be pumped! This would probably be the road to the cool table which I was not at."

Best known for his time playing Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America across the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this year the 41-year-old actor starred in Pixar's Lightyear, Netflix's The Gray Man, and filmed three new movies including 2023's Ghosted for AppleTV+ which he is also producing. Evans also co-runs the civic engagement platform A Starting Point, which he launched in 2020. Plus he's the loving dog father to Dodger, his boxer mix, who can be seen all over his social media. Is there anything he can't do?!

Evans has been heating up the screen for over two decades now, ever since his earliest roles playing high school heartthrobs and villains in Not Another Teen Movie, TV series Opposite Sex, The Perfect Score, and his earliest superhero role playing Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four films. Throughout his career, he's also had roles in The Nanny Diaries, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Push, What's Your Number, Snowpiercer, Gifted, Knives Out, and TV series Defending Jacob.

Magnus Sundholm/Shutterstock Chris Evans

Now that he's been named PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive, Evans jokes that he's prepared to hear all about it from his friends. "Really this will just be a point of bullying," he says. "It's ripe for harassment."

The actor joins a long list of Sexiest Men Alive, including last year's honoree Paul Rudd, and previous title holders Michael B. Jordan, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Legend, Idris Elba, Chris Hemsworth, and Channing Tatum. But don't expect him to use the word "sexy" when describing himself. "It's something that as I become old and saggy I can look back on and say, 'I remember then ... '" Evans says. "I'm lucky to be in the discussion in any capacity."

For more on the Sexiest Man Alive — and 149 of the hottest guys in Hollywood — click HERE and pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands nationwide Friday, Nov. 12!

Related content:

• Chris Evans' hottest movie roles in the MCU and beyond

• Jeremy Strong almost played Chris Evans' scrawny body double in Captain America: The First Avenger

• 12 behind-the-scenes secrets from the Captain America movies