Samuel L. Jackson may have let slip an unexpected piece of news about the Avengers franchise: a modern-day storyline for the Red Skull.
Hugo Weaving played the WWII-era villain in Captain America: The First Avenger. The Red Skull was dead by the end of the movie, but death isn’t always the end in superhero stories.
Samuel L. Jackson hinted at the Red Skull’s return during an interview with Hot 97. “You didn’t see me in Civil War,” he said, explaining his absence from the last Captain America movie. “I’m still out there trying to figure out what the Skull is going to…”
At this point he was cut off by another question, but the word “skull” was enough to inspire rampant speculation among Marvel fans. There are a few reasonable explanations for Jackson’s slip-up:
- The Red Skull will appear in another Marvel movie, possibly Avengers: Infinity War or its sequel.
- It was a slip of the tongue. He meant to say “Hydra,” but accidentally mentioned the Red Skull because the character is synonymous with Hydra in the comics.
- He’s trolling, because he knows Marvel fans will over-analyze any interview quote for clues about future movies.
If the Red Skull does return to the MCU, he’s a surprising and potentially controversial choice of supervillain. Marvel’s current run of Hydra/Captain America comics inspired a long-running debate about neo-Nazi politics, which may be a little edgy for the mainstream blockbuster world of the Avengers franchise.
As for Hugo Weaving, he hasn’t wholly ruled out the possibility of a return.
H/T to Comic Book Movie