‘Avengers: Infinity War’: Hugo Weaving Was Asked to Return as Red Skull

While most of the events in Avengers: Infinity War were beyond tragic, the movie did provide audiences with some pleasant surprises, one being the return of a classic Marvel villain. When Red Skull showed up to give Thanos a lesson in the Soul Stone, many wondered who the man was behind the mask. Unsurprisingly, it was not Hugo Weaving, who played the role in Captain America: The First Avenger.

During a special screening of Avengers: Infinity War last night, Peter Sciretta of /Film was kind enough to tweet some of the new information shared by Joe and Anthony Russo in their live Q&A. The dynamic sibling team behind the third Avengers installment (also, Captain America: The Winter Solider and Captain America: Civil War) are gearing up for the highly-anticipated Avengers 4 while still fielding questions about Infinity War.

One of last night’s questions pertained to the return of Red Skull, and the Russos revealed some interesting information: Hugo Weaving was asked to return as the iconic villain.

“Hugo Weaving was asked to return to reprise Red Skull,” writes Sciretta,
“that’s all the Russo Brothers would say.” It’s no surprise the directors would not expand on Weaving’s reasons for declining the role, especially since the actor best known for The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings has been very vocal about his negative experience working on the first Cap movie.

According to the tweet, “the Soul Stone was the last stone in writing for them to come up with.” Apparently, the Russos put a lot of thought into the explanation of the stone that ultimately lead to Gamora’s death (and, well, everyone else’s). “We need someone that the audience is going to trust to explain the rules,” they said of Red Skull’s appearance. Collider, who hosted the event, tweeted a video of the response, which you can watch here:

Sciretta also shared further insight into the character, who is now being played by Ross Marquand of The Walking Dead fame. “Red Skull has been on a journey since the events of Captain America,” he wrote, “He is now a space to the stones, he is a ghost.”

According to the Russos, the push for Red Skull‘s return actually came Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus, the writers of The First Avenger. “They played around with it not being him but they kept coming back to it being Red Skull,” expanded Sciretta, “The screenwriters, who wrote First Avenger, fought for it.”

The question now remains whether or not we’ll see Red Skull again in Avengers 4, which is finally hitting theaters on May 3rd, 2019.