The Red Skull in the Marvel universe is the nickname of three characters at once, two of whom were Nazis and one was a Communist. They all hate the United States, appear mainly in comics about Captain America, invariably opposing Cap. The most famous of the “trinity” is Johann Schmidt, who in the created narrative acts as the head of the HYDRA organization, he is close to the Fuhrer himself. In different versions of the universe, the Red Skull is one of the protagonists, as well as a key villain. Regardless of the scenario chosen, the character seeks to destroy the United States and Captain America, which he often succeeds in.
First appearance and key features
The Red Skull was first talked about after the release of the Camptain America Comics in March 1941. At that time, the character was not conceived as a serious long-term construction, playing the role of only an episodic opponent of Cap. The history of the Red Skull, although it was thought out more or less, but found its fullness only much later. The viewer first sees in this the role of George Maxon, the spy of Schmidt, who only pretends to be an antagonist, in fact, being an ordinary person. The hero turned out to be entertaining, charismatic and very "villainous", extreme cruelty and anger, ambition, but there was no moral subtext, was traced in his motivation, therefore he was considered superficial.
The Red Skull is a Reich soldier who was the first to use the serum of the scientist Abraham Excine, later applied to Cap. Since Schmidt injected himself with only a prototype, its consequences were unpredictable. The skin on the face of the Red Skull was deformed and peeled off, exposing muscles and tissues. So Schmidt got his nickname.
In one version of the Marvel universe, the antagonist is a descendant of Cap, and he finds his name himself by simply cutting off the skin on his own face. The Red Skull has superhuman strength, reaction, regeneration. In addition, Johann Schmidt showed himself to be a brilliant scientist, ahead of his time and understanding the value of the Tesseract.
early years
In the film, the Red Skull is shown in isolation from its motivation and past. The painting "The First Avenger" paid considerable attention to Cap, but not to his opponent. In fact, its study is much deeper.
Johann Schmidt was born in a remote village in northern Germany, there is no exact date of birth. His mother died during childbirth, his father, distraught from grief, tried to kill the child, but the doctor saved him. Despite the fact that he was extremely young, Schmidt remembers those events well. Father soon committed suicide, and little Johann ends up in an orphanage. However, with the remaining orphans, the future head of HYDRA did not live long, going to the streets and hunting with theft. Once he tripled to a Jew's shop, fell in love with his daughter, but when she refused, he fell into a frantic rage and killed the girl with a mop, and then fled.
Acquaintance with Hitler
There are two key stories that describe the acquaintance of the Red Skull with the Fuhrer. This was due to the difference in the scenario context of the comic books about Captain America, which several people worked at different times. According to the first version, Schmidt got a bell in Munich, and when Hitler visited the hotel, he was honored to monitor the number of the Fuhrer. Once Johann found the head of the Nazi party behind the fact that he was reporting to the officer. Pointing at Schmidt, Hitler said that he could make a worthy Aryan even out of this guy.
According to the second version, the Red Skull himself found the Fuhrer in a theater in Berlin. There, he presented his ideas about the Northern gods and magic to him, urged him to begin the search for the tomb of Odin. The environment considered him crazy, while the Führer himself ordered a closer look. Heinrich Himler took under his wing Schmidt, and in June of the 34th, Johann seized control of one of the armed units of the "black shirts", taking an active part in the "Night of Long Knives".
First developments, whey
In September 1935, the Red Skull captured the base of one of Hitler’s close associates. There he killed everyone except the scientist Arnim Zol, who was involved in the development of an exoskeleton for Reich soldiers. Inviting the researcher to continue his work, the Red Skull began to literally scour in search of new minds to create weapons. Under his attention fell Abraham Exqin, a biochemist and a Jew by nationality. Taking his family hostage and placing his wife and daughter in the Dachau concentration camp, Schmidt forced the scientist to continue developing the serum.
Two years later, the scientist's relatives died, but the Red Skull kept silent about this. In 1940, the serum was ready for testing. Taking her by force, Schmidt became the first subject. Unfortunately, the prototype turned out to be unstable, because of which the appearance of the Gestapo officer was distorted: the skin got off his face, his muscles were bared, and his eyelids disappeared. However, the Red Skull also received strength, endurance, speed and accelerated regeneration.
World War II, HYDRA
Shortly after testing the serum, Hitler sent Schmidt to a secret military base in the Alps. There, the Red Skull continued its search for Darkhold, thinking about using the Tesseract, which was supposed to be buried on Earth, in the tomb of Odin. In addition, the head of the HYDRA didn’t forgive his link, holding his grudge and making plans on how to remove the Fuhrer.
In March 1942 he arrives in Norway, in the city of Teisberg. According to him, the artifact was stored in a local church. Threatening the keeper with the destruction of his fellow villagers, Schmidt discovers the secret of the real Tesseract, who was hidden behind a wall with the image of nine worlds, after which he nevertheless destroys the village and kills the guard.
Fighting Cap
Over the next time, he encounters Captain America, which ultimately led him to a semblance of death. During the escape shown in First Avenger, the Red Skull grabbed Tesseract with his bare hands and disappeared. In fact, he was transported to Wormyr, where he became the keeper of the Soul Stone, which is shown in the “Infinity War”.
The character in the picture is visible only briefly, it was performed by Ross Marquand, an American actor. The Red Skull conducts a test for Thanos, after which he gives him the Soul Stone.
Personality and character traits
The Red Skull is incredibly cruel. In the film, this is explained by the fact that he was mad because of serum, in the comics - by childhood and a birth defect. However, in his actions he is consistent, striving for power and strength. Ambitious, moreover, it demonstrates good qualities of a leader, since it keeps HYDRA in check. Charismatic, sociopath.
When creating the Red Skull, considerable attention was paid to the propaganda of the struggle against Nazism, which is evident. Over time, the prototype of the hero has changed, he became power-hungry and even more cruel. Despite this, he is considered one of the most memorable villains, taking 14th place in popularity in the hundred antagonists from comics according to IGN.
Who plays the Red Skull in First Avenger? This is familiar to everyone from the role of Elrond from The Lord of the Rings Weaving Hugo. Amplitude was a success for him, and the hero received another memorable appearance. Photo of the Red Skull can be seen in the article.