Despite being released back in April, moviegoers and Marvel fans haven't stopped discussing every frame from Avengers: Infinity War. The Russo Brothers did the impossible, servicing a massive cast of characters, and keeping the audience on their toes through plot twists. In fact, the directors even did a deep dive by bringing back Captain America: The First Avenger villain Red Skull.
The inclusion of Red Skull is something nobody saw coming, and his appearance also brought another revelation: actor Hugo Weaving didn't return to the role. Instead, The Walking Dead actor Ross Marquand played the villain. Fans have been wondering what happened to Weaving, and now we've seemingly got the answer: he was asked to return, but did not.
This revelation comes to us from Slash Film's Peter Sciretta, who was in the audience for a Q & A with The Russo Brothers after a recent screening of Avengers: Infinity War. It was during this talk that The Russo Brothers revealed Hugo Weaving was offered Red Skull's role in the blockbuster. They didn't go into details about the negotiations or what went wrong, but the final result shows that Weaving ultimately didn't return to the MCU during the film's Soul Stone sequence.
Red Skull's appearance and the Soul Stone scene actually ended up being one of the most heartbreaking moments from Avengers: Infinity War, and really helped to flesh out the character of Josh Brolin's Thanos. He and Gamora travel to Vormir so that he can collect the stones for his finger snap of death, which is where they meet the Stone's protector, Red Skull.
Ultimately Thanos must sacrifice a part of his soul in order to acquire the stone. While Gamora maintains he's lost since there is nothing the Mad Titan loves, his insidious intentions become clear. Thanos kills Gamora to acquire the stone, and becomes one step closer to "saving" the galaxy through his finger snap of death.
Gamora's death isn't something anyone anticipated, especially with Marvel's plans for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. But now that James Gunn has been fired and the franchise is on indefinite hold, does that mean Gamora is dead for good? And could Red Skull appear once more in Avengers 4?
All will be revealed when Avengers 4 arrives in theaters to end Phase Three on May 3rd, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.
