Marvel movie fans are by now well aware of the fact that there are some actors that are highly critical of their MCU experience, and one of those actors is Hugo Weaving, who played Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger. In the years since First Avenger‘s release, Weaving has made it abundantly clear that the material was not his favorite, and that he’s in no way shape or form eager to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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Well time – as they say – has the ability to heal all wounds, and in a recent interview with Yahoo, Weaving was finally sounding a bit more positive about the experience of playing Red Skull, and working with Marvel:
“I thought it would be a lot of fun to play a classic über-Nazi, someone who thought Hitler was a pussy! [Laughs] It was fun to play; I enjoyed the outrageousness of the German accent that I employed and I enjoyed the extraordinary mask and costume, even though it was unbelievably hot inside it. I enjoy mask work; I enjoy trying to animate masks and reveal certain things that the mask itself might not reveal. V for Vendetta was another example of that, but there was less animation within that mask versus the Red Skull.“
When we last saw Weaving’s Red Skull, he had grabbed hold of the Cosmic Cube and vanished in a flash of cosmic energy. Marvel Comics fans know that this doesn’t necessarily mean a death sentence for Red Skull – far from it, in fact. With the Cosmic Cube’s strange powers, Red Skull could possibly return with more cosmic power and knowledge than he had before -which would make him a very dangerous foe for Captain America and The Avengers.
Speaking of the latter: Yahoo raised the question of Red Skull’s possible role in the cosmic event that will be Avengers: Infinity War, since the Cosmic Cube is one of the components of The Infinity Gauntlet, aka god-like power that is wielded by Thanos. While still not jumping for joy over the thought of another MCU performance, Weaving was also careful not to rule it out completely:
“With Marvel, it’s pretty basic stuff: accept the deal and enjoy the ride. It’s not a major stretch for an actor, but on the other hand the difficulty with the Marvel universe is maintaining a link to a human dimension within such an extraordinary, technological CGI universe. In terms of me going back and doing another one, I don’t know. I’m not sure what they’re up to with the Red Skull.“
The great thing about the MCU Phases I – III is a that the massive saga has so many little dangling threads that could all tie back to Infinity War. Characters like Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Nebula and Weaving’s Red Skull are still in play, and have the comic book canon to support them challenging Thanos for cosmic omnipotence. There’s even hint that Mephisto is lurking around the MCU, and he could be involved, as well.
At some point Red Skull will to show up again, whether it’s Hugo Weaving in the mask or a new actor. But for fans, Marvel, and maybe Weaving himself, there would be nice closure and seeing the original Red Skull show up in the biggest battle the MCU has ever seen.
Doctor Strange opens November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man: Homecoming– July 7, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; Black Panther – February 16, 2018; Avengers: Infinity War – May 4, 2018; Ant-Man and the Wasp – July 6, 2018; and Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019.
