Hugo Weaving is Marvel's superhero version of Joseph Goebbels - "The Red Skull" in CAPTAIN AMERICA!

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

Joe Johnston, a safe, predictable and rather unstimulating director who probably checks both ways no less than four times before crossing the street - is taking no risks with his casting of The Red Skull, the lead villain in The First Avenger: Captain America which films in June. The Hollywood Reporter say iconic screen villain Hugo Weaving is in talks, and I guess we all know what we are going to get from him. The iconic voice, the expressive angry dog-growl face, the slight smirk of confidence and no doubt, a little bit of baggage that still haunts his roles even a decade on from The Matrix. If he agrees to the low-ball Marvel offer ($300,000 is all the lead is getting), Weaving will play Hitler's right hand man, the Nazi propaganda mastermind, the great military strategist and sadistic genocidal villain who covers his face with a red mask. Think - The Joseph Goebbels of the Captain America universe, his version of The Joker. He pre-dates Captain America and is well established as a terror of Europe before the U.S. enter World War II in Dec 1941. In fact, I believe the super serum soldier is created, in part, to combat The Red Skull himself. I actually always loved this idea about Cap and thought it would be an interesting idea to explore on film because usually it's the case that the villain is created because of a superhero's presence, not the other way around. Having a well established villain already operating in evil antics is a neat idea. Briefly: I think Weaving is better suited to Siniestro, and the Red Skull SHOULD be played by an uber-German but Christoph Waltz's are hard to find and Weaving is a safe choice. Expect Cap casting soon, remember it's down to a few names.