10 Things You Didn't Know About Red Skull
There's a lot more to this scarred Nazi supervillain than you think (no, really)
Captain America isn't exactly a subtle superhero. That was by design: both in-universe and in reality, he was invented as a sort of walking propaganda tool, a living embodiment of America values and strength during the Second World War. He kind of had to be a guy literally decked out in the stars and stripes of the US flag.
So when you've got a superhero like that, you have to give him a similarly unsubtle villain to rail against. Well, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby certainly managed that by cooking up the Red Skull, Cap's nemesis who has - shocker - a scary red skull for a face. Plus he's a massive Nazi, just in case he wasn't terrifying and inhuman enough for you anyway.
The Red Skull is Captain America's most famous enemy, recurring through the comics since his first appearance in the thirties and figuring into both animation and live action adaptations of the character, most recently appearing in Captain America: The First Avenger, played by Hugo Weaving.
He's not particularly subtle, but there's actually a lot going on with this particular supervillain you might not be aware of. There's his power set, his family history, his relationship with a certain infamous Adolf, and his previous (inexplicably Italian) movie appearances...all figure into the ten things you didn't know about the Red Skull.
10. He Has No Superpowers
What's so scary about the Red Skull? Well, the fact that his face is a big red skull, for one thing. His dogged determination in chasing Captain America, trying to resurrect the Third Reich and the tactical cunning he's used for both for another. But in a Marvel Universe full of super-powered folk, Johann Schmidt is just a regular guy.
Still, a regular guy. He has a red skull, sure, but he has literally no superpowers. Not one. Whilst Steve Rogers is imbued with the super soldier serum which increases his strength, speed, agility and endurance above and beyond your average human, his arch nemesis has bsolutely no abilities whatsoever.
Excluding the time he stole Professor X's brain and became a powerful psychic monster, the Red Skull has mostly relied on his cunning and ruthlessness to orchestrate plots to take down Captain America, and his criminal science connections to first freeze his body and then put his brain in other bodies to survive into the modern day.