Marvel Teases Return of The Red Skull

This week in Marvel Comics has brought a few big twists in several character storylines, as well as some pretty big teases that some iconic Marvel villains will be making their way back into the fold, sooner before later.

Captain America #5 was one such case: writer Ta-Nehisi Coates pulls a major twist out, in the form of The Red Skull once again rearing his evil Nazi head. At least... sort of

The issue sees psychic vampire Selene revive none other than Alexander Lukin, the former handler of The Winter Soldier. Lukin had his mind invaded by Red Skull, when the villain used a Cosmic Cube to transfer his consciousness into Lukin's body just before Skull's body was destroyed by Winter Soldier.

After that Lukin/Skull tried to abduct Sharon Carter to use her to locate and kill a time-displaced Steve Rogers. The plan went sideways when Sharon escaped, and she gunned down Lukin, even though Arnim Zola managed to save the Red Skull's consciousness at the last minute. Lukin remained in the grave... until now.

The Red Skull went on to stay active in his evil campaigns. For a time he living in one of Zola's android bodies; he also hijacked Steve Rogers' body for a time, and invaded Washington D.C. He was forced out of Steve's body and back into an android, which was then destroyed. That didn't end the Red Skull's threat, however: Zola had created a clone of Red Skull back during WWII, which was placed in cryostasis. That clone awakes in modern day, and steals the brain of the dead Charles Xavier, in order to gain access to Xavier's unequaled psychic powers. That Skull Clone was apparently killed during the "Secret Empire" storyline, when he was tackled off of a cliff by "Steve Rogers."

Clearly, Coates is now bringing back the original Red Skull that we know and love to hate. He's still trapped in Lukin's body, but does anyone really expect that situation to stop Skull for long?

As stated, this ending of Captain America #5 was one of two big villain returns in Marvel Comics this week: the other was in Venom #8. That issue basically pulled the same kind of Marvel Comics-style plot twist, by revealing that the Venom symbiote keeps trace amounts of itself in every one of its hosts, ostensibly linking them to the symbiote and its hive. Eddie Brock found himself sharing a body with "Agent Venom" (aka the deceased Flash Thompson), hinting that the "We are Venom" relationship is about to get more complicated. The issue ended with the reveal that this now "back from the dead" ability of the symbtioes could be used to bring back original Carnage, Kletus Casady.

Marvel is getting its classic crimson bad guys back on the game board - no matter whose body they have to hijack in the process.

You can pick up Captain America #5 now.