Infinity War – the culmination of 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, gave us many surprises. Thanos wiped out half of all life in the Galaxy, a lot of heroes fell and a lot of secrets were revealed. Thor lost his people, Cap lost his ‘brother’ and Iron Man lost his protégé. But there were other minor shocks that managed to creek our doors as well. The inclusion of Peter Dinklage as Eitri the dwarf was one. But one of the surprises left an astonishingly smooth aftertaste. The Red Skull, as it turns out, was not dead after the events of The First Avenger. He was very much alive and kicking.
As the torch bearer for the Soul Stone on Vormir, Schmidt strongly resembled the eerie embodiment of death aka Lady Death from Marvel Comics. His appearance and the new look in infinity War were well received but it almost did not happen the way it did in the movie.
For those who have no idea of who we are talking about, the Red Skull was a Nazi General and Spymaster who later became Hydra’s leader. Under his tutelage, Hydra became the global force of terror it is famous as today. The Red Skull frequently clashed with his arch-nemesis, Captain America the Super Soldier.
In the movies, Red Skull was played by Hugo Weaving and the actor did a splendid job of portraying the character on screen. The Red Skull reeked with rage, bountiful agony and evil wickedness. Which is why when he was ‘killed’ at the end of The First Avenger movie, everyone lost their minds.
The Red Skull was literally obliterated by the Space Stone when he tried to grab it with his bare hands. Everyone believed that the Skull was dead but the nature of his death left a lot of questions and too little answers. So, when the guy showed up on Vormir, everyone’s suspicions were confirmed. The obscure theories of Red Skull not being dead and being merely transported somewhere to the far reaches of the Universe, turned out to be true after all.
In Infinity War, the Red Skull was played by The Walking Dead star Ross Marquand. He played the character who had been forever cursed to become the torch bearer of the Soul Stone, guiding people who came looking for its power. The look and feel of Red Skull’s entry was beyond extraordinary. But if the high executives at the Marvel Studios would have had their way, the Red Skull of Infinity War would not have been debuted on the Big Screens the way he did in the movie itself.
We could credit this new piece of information highlighted to us to YouTuber Jamie Thomas. When he was going through an early access version of an Infinity War concept art book that is due to come out only next week, we could see a stark difference in the concept art for Red Skull and the way he looked in the Infinity War movie.
Here is what the artists had originally designed for The Red Skull in infinity War:
His ghostly makeover in Infinity War almost did not happen. The original art showed him in his regular army fatigues, a bit tattered of course, but still – It would have been a major let down. The look of Red Skull in the movie was supposed to be a reference to Lady Death from Marvel Comics. She is the one that made Thanos do what he did in the original Infinity Gauntlet story arc in the first place. Somehow, she had to be in the movie. We are glad Marvel chose otherwise and gave both the characters the justice both of them rightfully deserved.
Christopher McFeely and Stephen Markus, the writer duo who penned the script of Infinity war, had this to say about the character:
“Cinematically, he’s the first one to be obsessed with these Infinity Stones in the MCU and he clearly did not die at the end of First Avenger,” said co-writer Christopher Markus. “The idea of where he might have gone is so tantalizing and much like being able to fill roles that would be there anywhere with William Hurt or Benicio del Toro, he fit this moment perfectly.”
“The MCU is a unique experiment and the fact that we’ve been there for all the phases is a privilege but we know where all the bodies are buried,” added co-writer Stephen McFeely. “Sometimes, you can dig a body up and put him in a scene.”
What lies ahead for Red Skull now?
Since now Red Skull is free to roam the Universe, where would he go to? Thanos managed to do the impossible. He did what no one else who came before him to gain the power of the most elusive Infinity Stone in the universe could. He passed the ultimate test and gained the stone that allowed him control over the essence of life and death. Red Skull is left on Vormir, but his curse of immortality has not come to an end. Or has it?
Vormir is the Kree territory in the comic books. So does that mean the Red Skull would find himself in the political power struggles or the dark alleys of the vast Kree Inter-Galactic Empire? Will he have a passing reference in the upcoming Captain Marvel movie as well? It is really hard to say right now. We will have to hold our predictions for the future of the character and wait to find out more.
Ever since the Red Skull made his appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and left his mark, the Studio was willing to find more ways to bring him back, The Russo Brothers, Anthony and Joe Russo, the directors of Infinity War, were particularly fascinated by Red Skull and spoke highly of him in several interviews. It was up to the fans to correctly figure out that the Red Skull would appear in the future somehow, somewhere within the MCU movies. We were too slow to do that. We should not make that mistake again.
Will the Red Skull appear in Avengers 4 Highly unlikely! But we have been wrong before and the Marvel Cinematic Universe excels at the fans second-guessing their own predictions and making us expect the impossible every time we go to watch a Marvel movie. Maybe the Red Skull will appear in Avengers 4 after all. He played a small but crucial role in Infinity war. Let us hope they can do one better this time.
If the Red Skull does appear in the future MCU movies, expect yet another actor to play the part. The thing about playing Red Skull is that the actors hate playing the part again. Hugo Weaving forbade himself from playing red Skull on screen ever again after the punishing five hours make up ordeals before he had the look nailed. Ross Marquand has also shown looks of the doubt when asked if he is willing to play the character again. The long makeup time and the accent forces actors to be repulsed by the character once they have played it once on the screen.
Red Skull, played by Hugo Weaving, made his first mark in the world’s most profitable franchise in Captain America: The First Avenger. The official film synopsis for the movie reads:
It is 1941 and the world is in the throes of war. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) wants to do his part and join America’s armed forces, but the military rejects him because of his small stature. Finally, Steve gets his chance when he is accepted into an experimental program that turns him into a supersoldier called Captain America. Joining forces with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Captain America leads the fight against the Nazi-backed HYDRA organization.
The Red Skull appeared last in Avengers: Infinity War. The official film synopsis for the movie 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.
