Hugo Weaving reveals why he didn’t return as Red Skull in Avengers sequels
Hugo Weaving recently revealed why he never reprised the role of Red Skull in the Avengers sequels.
Captain America: The First Avenger helped kick off The Avengers, which led to massive success for Marvel and Disney for many years to come. Hugo Weaving would add to his resume of genre films by playing Red Skull in the 2011 film.
But many fans didn’t know the film would be his first and last appearance in the MCU. A lot has been speculated as to why Weaving never made a return in another Captain America film or an Avengers sequel. Instead, Ross Marquand, of The Walking Dead fame, portrayed Red Skull in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Weaving finally addressed the issue with Time Out London. He said:
"“I loved playing that character Red Skull – it was a lot of fun. We were all obliged to sign up for three pictures: I was thinking [Red Skull] probably wouldn’t come back in Captain America but he may well come back as a villain in The Avengers. By then, they’d pushed back on the contracts that we agreed on and so the money they offered me for The Avengers was much less than I got for the very first one, and this was for two films. And the promise when we first signed the contracts was that the money would grow each time. They said: ‘It’s just a voice job, it’s not a big deal.’ I actually found negotiating with them through my agent impossible. And I didn’t really wanna do it that much. But I would have done it.”"
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Contrary to popular belief, Weaving says he enjoyed playing Red Skull. However, contractual issues appear to be the reason Weaving did not portray Red Skull in the Avengers sequels.
His reason makes sense since Weaving is an accomplished actor having played major roles in The Matrix trilogy, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and V for Vendetta. He wouldn’t need to take payment that he feels is beneath his value.
While Red Skull has appeared several times in the comics, especially in villain team-ups, there really isn’t a major reason to bring him back for another film.
His appearance as the Stonekeeper in Infinity War and Endgame was probably a gesture by Kevin Feige and co. to bring everything full circle, as Endgame was the conclusion to The Infinity Saga and an ending for established characters like Iron Man and Captain America.
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Marquand appears to be the person Marvel will look to if they choose to bring Red Skull back, but his appearance was seamless enough that most fans probably didn’t know there was another actor playing the character.
What do you think about Weaving’s comments? Do you want to see the Red Skull return to the MCU? Let us know in the comments below!