With the exception of Loki (and Thanos, but he hasn’t really done a whole lot yet), no Marvel Cinematic Universe villain has appeared in more than one film. This is usually down to the character being killed off, or simply not making enough of an impact to be brought back, so, for the most part, fans haven’t kicked up too much of a fuss about it – aside from one baddie in particular, that is: Captain America: The First Avenger‘s The Red Skull.
Hugo Weaving’s sinister turn as Cap’s arch nemesis was (mostly) very well received by the Marvel faithful, so because he was given an ambiguous send-off in the closing moments of the movie, it was generally assumed that he’d return to make Steve Roger’s life miserable at some point down the line. Of course, that never happened, and Weaving was quoted as saying he didn’t have the best time under those red prosthetics – but, the actor now seems to have changed his tune.
Here’s what he had to say when asked about his experience playing the character by Yahoo:
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.
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.
So, why the change of heart? Well, it’s always possible – despite what he says here – that Weaving has been approached to reprise the role for a future film. Or, he may simply have mellowed a bit on further reflection. Obviously there’s going to be a lot of Red Skull fans hoping that it’s the former.
Whatever the case may be, we likely won’t know for some time. Until we hear more, you can catch up with the adventures of Skull’s heroic enemy in Captain America: Civil War, which is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.