8 Moments In Avengers: Infinity War That Completely Surprised Us

Red Skull Returns

For years, fans have been wondering if and when Red Skull would make a return to the MCU. At the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, Hugo Weaving’s HYDRA leader vanished when he held the Space Stone (or Tesseract, as we knew it then). Given its power set, though, it was theorized that Red Skull didn’t die but was merely transported across the galaxy.

In Infinity War, this long-held theory has finally been confirmed. When Thanos and Gamora travel to Volmir in search of the Soul Stone, they meet a mysterious cloaked figure. It turns out to be Johann Schmidt, who reveals that he was transported here after he attempted to harness the power of the Tesseract. He believes that he was cursed into service of a greater power that he was doomed never to wield.

This is probably one of the biggest fan-pleasing moments in the film. Casual viewers might be left stumped by this weird red-faced guy, but MCU diehards will be thrilled by the genuinely surprising cameo. We’d heard rumors about it in the past, but it seemed like Infinity War had too much to do without adding in a return for this long forgotten foe.

In all the excitement, you also might not have noticed that Red Skull sounded or looked a little different (underneath the prosthetics). That’s because it’s not Hugo Weaving who portrayed the character this time. Ross Marquand – most well known as Aaron on The Walking Dead – took over the role for this movie. He did a great job, too, so we’d love to see him return at some point.