Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures have released a high-quality still of Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt, better known as The Red Skull, from its upcoming "Captain America: The First Avenger." Click on the image to see it enlarged. Sharp-eyed fans got a glimpse, and believe me, it was only a glimpse, of Cap's nemesis in the Superbowl trailer but this is the first chance to get a good look.
Chris Evans plays Steve Rogers, who wants to enlist in the army during World War II but is 4F. He then volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a supersoldier dedicated to defending America's ideals. Stanley Tucci and Tommy Lee Jones also star. British actress Hayley Atwell, who has an impressive string of British TV performances under her belt, plays Peggy Carter. Hugo Weaving, well-known to movie audiences for "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "The Matrix," plays Johann Schmidt, also known as The Red Skull.
The Nigerian-born Weaving is a gradutate of the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney, Australia, whose alumni also includes Mel Gibson and Geoffrey Rush. He is well-known to American movie audiences for his role as Elrond in Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, as well as for playing "Agent Smith" in "The Matrix" movies. He also appeared recently as Inspector Abberline in director Joe Johnston's remake of "The Wolfman."
There have been more than one Red Skull in Marvel Comics, all enemies of Captain America. The character started out as an American industrialist turned Nazi saboteur. The second, considered by longtime fans to be the "true" Red Skull, was in fact a German working for Hitler. In the post-World War II era, a third Red Skull emerged, who worked for the Soviet Union.
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