Despite being one of the most iconic villains in the history of comic books in general, not just Marvel, the Red Skull was never really given his due on the big screen. Of course, Hugo Weaving played the character in Captain America: The First Avenger, but he wasn’t exactly used to his full potential, mirroring the ‘one-and-done’ mentality that saw the early years of the MCU plagued by undercooked bad guys.
Weaving had been pretty vocal in admitting that he has absolutely no interest in reprising the role, despite initially signing a multi-picture contract for The First Avenger, but fans got a surprise during the events of Avengers: Infinity War when the Red Skull showed up as the guardian of the Soul Stone on Vormir, this time with The Walking Dead’s Ross Marquand under the makeup.
Johann Schmidt’s alter-ego was also a part of Avengers: Endgame, presiding over the battle to the death between close friends Hawkeye and Black Widow during the time-heist sequence of the movie, and questions have lingered over what exactly happened to him now that he was free from the clutches of the Infinity Stone.
People loved the idea of the Red Skull finally being able to escape from Vormir, only for his arch-nemesis Captain America to appear and hand the Soul Stone right back to him after he returned the stones at Endgame’s climax, but in a new interview, Marquand hinted that if he was to return to the MCU, then he’d be looking for revenge.
“Anthony and Joe Russo said once the Red Skull is released of the Soul Stone, once Thanos gets it, and then once Hawkeye gets it, he’s essentially free. But if we think about it, there’s all these different multiverses now. So in one multiverse, when Thanos frees him, he’s free. I would imaging the first thing he would do if he still has a vendetta, or if any part of him still has ambition, would be to go back to Earth. Maybe he wants to exact revenge, maybe he wants to keep his diabolical plan going.”
Marquand admitted that there are currently no plans for the Red Skull to return to the MCU, but if he was offered the opportunity he would grab it with both hands. With Steve Rogers now out of the picture, it would be interesting to see the notorious villain return to the franchise. We’ve already seen him in both a period and cosmic setting, but it would be fun to see what he could get up to if he was unleashed in the modern day.