Hugo Weaving’s relationship with the character of Red Skull has been consistently evolving since he first appeared as the villain in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger.
Just a year after the film came out, he told Collider that reprising the role was “not something I would want to do again”, explaining he “did sign up for a number of” MCU movies and “contractually, I would be obliged to, if they forced me to, but they wouldn’t want to force someone to do it, if they didn’t want to” and that “it’s not the sort of film I seek out and really am excited by.”
Later, in 2016, he admitted to Yahoo that it was actually “fun to play” Captain America’s nemesis, but that he still didn’t know if he’d ever do another Marvel movie.
Then, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame happened. Red Skull was back, but Weaving very much wasn’t, with the role going to The Walking Dead star Ross Marquand.
Now, in a new interview with Time Out while promoting the National Theatre’s The Visit, in which he leads the cast alongside Lesley Manville, Weaving has revealed that Marvel DID try to coax him back for its blockbuster Avengers projects, but perhaps those endeavours were much too weak to get the job done.
Indeed, on this occasion, the actor was much more enthusiastic about the role, indicating that the blame for his absence lay at Marvel’s feet.
Weaving also confirmed that he won’t return to be part of the cast in Lana Wachowski’s upcoming sci-fi sequel, The Matrix 4, due to scheduling conflicts.
Did you notice Weaving wasn’t the one playing Red Skull right away when you first saw Avengers: Infinity War, or were you too taken aback by his sudden appearance on Vormir at the time?
