Avengers: Endgame’s Red Skull Actor Pitches Movie About Captain America Returning the Infinity Stones

Ross Marquand, who took over the role of Red Skull from Captain America: The First Avenger star Hugo Weaving, hopes to see the villain return in a standalone movie following former enemy Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) on his mission to travel back through time and return the six Infinity Stones plucked from the past in Avengers: Endgame. Revealed as the ghostly keeper of the Soul Stone in Avengers: Infinity War — where warmonger Thanos (Josh Brolin) made the required sacrifice for the Soul Stone by killing adopted daughter Gamora (Zoe Saldana) on desolate planet Vormir — Marquand suspects Red Skull is now free to roam the Marvel multiverse, allowing him to encounter Rogers for the first time since 1945.

Asked during a virtual appearance at Awesome-Con Online 2020 if Red Skull might appear in the Sam Raimi-directed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Marquand answered, “Oh, I have no idea. I really can’t speak to that, because I don’t know. I hope he comes back.”

Because directors Anthony and Joe Russo have confirmed Red Skull is freed from servitude of the Soul Stone, Marquand says Red Skull could use his unearthly powers to traverse through the cosmos and return to Earth with a vengeance.

“He could probably get back to Earth if he had a vendetta still, a bone to pick with Captain America. Or he could want to do something else entirely,” Marquand said. “He might just want to venture around the cosmos. But there is a version of him that is flying around, he’s totally free of the Soul Stone. So I mean, there’s all these different multiverses that exist now, right? I think it would be really fascinating to explore what’s happening with all these different characters now that the stones have been returned.”

After Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) used the combined powers of the Infinity Stones to obliterate Thanos and his army in Endgame, Smart Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) used the time machine he built with Stark to send Rogers back through history to return the stones to their rightful place in the timeline. Rogers disappeared and returned in the span of seconds, coming back as a now 112-year-old man who lived out his life in the past — this time alongside long lost love Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).

“I also thought it would be really interesting to make a standalone movie with Cap returning all the stones. Because when he jumps into the time machine at the end of Endgame, he’s gone for a second and then comes back as an old man,” Marquand said. “But I think it would be really interesting to see what happens each time he returns those stones. And that would be a fascinating movie in and of itself, I think. I hope [Red Skull] does [return].”

Whether or not Red Skull and Captain America meet again during Rogers’ trip through time, Marquand is unsure if the former HYDRA leader has the same ambitions from decades earlier.

“I don’t know if they have any bad blood anymore,” he said. “Cap probably does, but I think Red Skull is cursed with infinite knowledge, so he might not care about revenge at all. I hope he comes back, we’ll see. Fingers crossed.”

Avengers: Endgame and other Marvel Studios movies are now streaming on Disney+.