One of the oldest fan theories rolling around the MCU is that Steve Rogers’ original nemesis Red Skull is not dead. Considering his immense importance in the comic book world, it was a curious decision to kill off Hugo Weaving’s disfigured Nazi villain after only one appearance back in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. If you’ll recall, the character foolishly attempted to hold the Tesseract with his bare hands, obliterating himself in the process.
But is that what really happened? As has been fairly obvious for a while now, the Tesseract is really the Space Stone, of the all-powerful Infinity Stones that Thanos is desperate to get his gauntleted hand on. One of its abilities is that it can be used to travel through the cosmos. So, what if Red Skull was not disintegrated as we thought but actually sent to some distant planet?
New fuel was just added to this theory, as the recent Avengers: Infinity War Prelude comic retells the story of Red Skull’s death, and depicts it in an ambiguous way. In a flashback scene detailing Captain America’s first mission, one panel portrays Johann Schmidt’s death as a ray of yellow light shooting off into space. It echoes the VFX seen in the movie, sure, but it also makes it look a lot more like a teleportation.
So, could this mean that the fans were right and Red Skull really is alive? Hugo Weaving has said in the past that he wouldn’t be too keen on reprising his role but, if it had to be done, Red Skull would be one of the easiest MCU characters to recast thanks to the prosthetic face that masks the actor’s features.
What’s more, does his appearance in this prelude comic mean that the villain could even turn up in Infinity War? Anything is possible, and set photos have suggested that the film and its untitled sequel will jump back in time, but we suspect there’s enough going on in these movies without throwing in the return of a significant character like Red Skull.
One way or another, though, all will be revealed when Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters worldwide on April 27th.
