Great news coming from Marvel today concerning The First Avenger: Captain America. ComingSoon reports that Hugo Weaving has been locked in as the villainous Johann Schmidt, aka the Red Skull. Weaving has been in negotiations for a while and it was no secret that he was the leading contender for the role. Now that he has it, I’m just that more psyched for the film. He joins Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Cap and Hayley Atwell as WWII era love interest, Peggy Carter. Joe Johnston is directing.
The Red Skull is one of the seminal villains in the Marvel Universe and no ordinary jackhole bad guy to be sure. The role requires the presence of Weaving, who has no problem holding down an entire movie from behind a mask. The Skull was a Nazi counterpart to Captain America, a WWII Axis agent who later emerged to be a major villain in modern times. The character will reportedly be adapted somewhat for the feature adaptation.
Weaving was most recently seen in Johnston’s The Wolfman and has Oranges and Sunshine upcoming as well as reprising his role of Elrond in The Hobbit double feature.