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Infinity War – The Directors Explain Why Red Skull Makes A Surprising Return

Avengers Infinity War landed onto the big screen and totally owned the box office worldwide. It has become the fastest movie title to have crossed $1 Billion in Box office collections i.e within 11 days of its release. It is now incredibly poised to become the first ever summer movie blockbuster to breach $2 Billion. It’s a super exclusive club where just three movies – Avatar, Titanic, Star Wars: The Force Awakens have made it thus far.

It’s an absolute thriller with ultimate fan-pleasing moments and a dash of humor which turned this movie into a gigantic comic-book fest. The fans have waited for a decade to see Avengers assemble to take on the biggest MCU villain there is ‘Thanos’ and it’s totally worth the wait.

The showdown between the two sides is nothing less than epic and the ending is as tragic as you can imagine, it hit like an emotional thunderbolt as you won’t see it coming. It will remind you of Game of Thrones ‘Red Wedding’ episode and feeling of hopelessness thereafter.

While Infinity War is filled with twists and turns of the highest order, several fans were still taken aback by one well known MCU character making a surprising return to the movie. When everyone assumed this character to be dead, he was found alive and well. No one knew why a character that was already presumed dead suddenly appear in the theaters. The Directors have an answer. Infinity War Directors explain why [SPOILER] makes a surprising return….

SPOILER ALERT: Major Infinity War Spoilers up ahead. Enter at your own risk…..

As many fans already know, Thanos did manage to get hold of all the six Infinity Stones. He wanted to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet with all the stones in it to wipe out half the life in the galaxy to bring balance to the universe. He believed that he was the only one strong-willed to take the hardest decisions for the cosmos.

After getting his hands on the Power, Reality and Space Stone, Thanos extorts the information about the location of the Soul Stone from Gamora by torturing her sister Nebula. Gamora reveals the Soul Stone is located on Vormir, a planet in the Helgentar Star System. The Helgentar system is a part of the Kree Empire, which will be heavily featured in the upcoming Captain Marvel movie.

When Thanos and Gamora arrive on Vormir, they are greeted by a character we all thought was dead. Red Skull, the villain from Captain America: The First Avenger movie, who was shot into space after holding the Space Stone in his bare hands at the end of that movie, is seen alive and well on Vormir. He was banished to Vormir as he tried to wield Cosmic Cube and failed.

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The Space Stone had somehow transported him across thousands of light-years onto the desolate planet of Vormir, to become the torchbearer of the Soul Stone located on the planet. Red Skull was then cursed with the job of guiding travelers and explorers who came looking to tame the Soul Stone’s powers, something the Red Skull himself can never wield.

He told Thanos that he could wield Soul stone only on one condition i.e he must sacrifice a soul that he deeply loved. Gamora thought this is not possible as Thanos has never loved anyone ever, but the next thing we know is Thanos lifted his loved daughter, threw her off the cliff and had tears in his eyes.

After Thanos sacrifices Gamora to the Soul Stone, the Infinity Stone becomes the property of the Mad Titan. The Titan wakes up several miles away, holding the soul stone in his hands. The movie never shows what happens to Red Skull later on, since the Soul Stone was the only thing that was keeping him alive on the alien planet.

The Infinity War Directors, the Russo Brothers, while recently speaking to Uproxx, revealed why the Red Skull was chosen to be the guardian of the Soul Stone, widely considered as the most powerful of the six Infinity Stones.

They say:

“Joe Russo: Somebody had to be the gatekeeper to the Soul Stone and somebody had to distribute the rules to Thanos and Gamora.

Anthony Russo: In a way that was credible and believable.

 

Joe Russo: Who felt credible to the audience. And a character who has been trapped – the Red Skull has been turned into this wraith who now guards the Soul Stone and distributes the rules to whoever shows up their trying to obtain it. It felt like there was more credibility than just a random character.

Anthony Russo: Somebody who has a history with the stones may seem like they have a little more authority in terms of their experience – especially a tragic experience.”

The Russo brothers also put to rest the rumors about the Red Skull being recast. In The First Avenger, the Red Skull was played by Hugo Weaving. But he has openly declared his hate for Marvel movies since. He particularly hated being the Red Skull because of the humongous amount of time it took for the Makeup team to put up the Prosthetics in place for making Weaving look the part. Ross Marquand, of Walking Dead fame, was chosen to be his replacement. But why Marquand!!! The Directors have an answer to that question as well:

Joe Russo:” Well, Ross Marquand did an incredible job of capturing not only the essence of his voice, but the essence of the performance – a haunted figure who is now this imprisoned spirit.”

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Anthony Russo: “And it’s a specific style of acting. Like, Josh Brolin couldn’t have been more thrilled by the opportunity of working in this very strange way. He remarked to Joe and me that he felt like he was in acting school again because this was all experimental and new. And some people are comfortable with that and some people aren’t.”

Avengers: Infinity War is playing in theaters near you. Directed by Russo brothers who have previously directed two Captain America movies – Winter Soldier and Civil War.

Produced by Kevin Feige and a group of executive producers such as Stan Lee, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo etc. The screenplay has been written by a talented duo – Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

The ensemble cast is beyond anything we have seen as it features some of the biggest stars under single roof including Josh Brolin (Thanos), Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Pratt (Star Lord), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Sebastian Stan (Winter soldier), Anthony Mackie (Falcon), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Bradley Cooper (Rocket Raccoon), Vin Diesel (Groot), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Jeremy Reiner (Hawkeye), Benedict Cumberbatch (Dr. Strange), Benedict Wong (Wong), Tom Holland (Spiderman), Letitia Wright (Shuri), Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlett Witch), Karen Gillian (Nebula), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Dave Bautista (Drax), Paul Bettany (Vision), Peter Dinklage (Eitri), Samuel Jackson (Nick Fury), Cobie Smulders (Mariah Hill).

The official movie synopsis reads:

“Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and the rest of the Avengers unite to battle their most powerful enemy yet — the evil Thanos. On a mission to collect all six Infinity Stones, Thanos plans to use the artifacts to inflict his twisted will on reality. The fate of the planet and existence itself has never been more uncertain as everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment”.

“As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain”.

Don’t Miss: The Russo Brothers Finally Reveal The Fate of The [Spoiler]

Bibhu Prasad

Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just... do things
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