While there have been endless rumours and speculation in the last few weeks about who will play the title character in The First Avenger: Captain America (click here for the latest rundown of who’s still in the running), it seems we now know who will be appearing as the villain in the superhero flick.
Lord of the Rings and The Matrix star Hugo Weaving is in final talks to play the role of Red Skull in Joe Johnston’s film. Although there have been different incarnations of the character, the most logical version of Red Skull for the film is the former Nazi general officer and confidant of Hitler, Johann Schmidt. In the comics the Fuhrer trained Schmidt personally and eventually gave him a grotesque red skull mask, with his job to be embodiment of Nazi intimidation. It was the propaganda effect of Red Skull that encouraged the US to create Captain America in the first place.
The film with reunite Johnston and Weaving, who recently worked together on The Wolfman. However negotiations on the villain role are said to be at a delicate stage. While normally by now it’s purely a case of ironing out the details, Marvel is known for playing hardball on both salary and demanding multi-picture deals, which may derail things. However it currently looks like Weaving will indeed be the bad guy. Now all we need is someone for the role of Captain America himself!