Although the MCU has grossed billions of dollars at the box office and enjoyed much critical acclaim, they are often criticized for having a villain problem. Aside from a few notable exceptions like Thanos, Killmonger, and Vulture, the Big Bads haven't exactly shaken the ground with Thor-like thunder. However, one performance I feel gets often overlooked is actor Hugo Weaving's role as Red Skull in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER. While I don't consider Joe Johnston's film to be top-tier Marvel, Weaving's performance definitely is. I thought he fully embodied the head of the terrorist organization Hydra. His Red Skull felt ripped from the comics and I was eagerly anticipating his return in later films.
Unfortunately for Weaving fans that was not to be the case. Although the character of Red Skull did return for AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR and AVENGERS: ENDGAME, Weaving wasn't the voice behind the man with the red makeup. That honor fell to Walking Dead actor Russ Marquand. Reports previously claimed that the reason Weaving didn't return was because he didn't want to play the role anymore. However, in a recent interview with Yahoo! Entertainment Hugo Weaving claimed it had nothing to do with a disinterest in the character and everything to do with Marvel's financial compensation:
"Oh, yeah. 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."
While I can understand Weaving's desire to stick with the original contract, let's be honest about Red Skull's role in these last two AVENGERS films. Red Skull only appears in a few scenes in both movies as keeper of the Soul Stone. The screentime was significantly less than Weaving's part in THE FIRST AVENGER. From that perspective it makes sense that Marvel didn't want to pay an equal or increased salary for less time. This isn't akin to what Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth went through for the fourth STAR TREK film. However, there's something to be said for fulfilling a contract as written. Also it's not like Marvel Studios is hurting for cash. Claiming poverty when the coffers are clearly full is pretty ridiculous if you ask me.
So what's your reaction to Hugo Weaving's words? Would you have liked him to return for AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR and AVENGERS: ENDGAME? Any chance he ever returns to the part of Red Skull? Let us know in the comments below!