Cool Stuff: Fan Rendering Of Captain America's Red Skull
No, this super high resolution computer rendering is not concept art from Joe Johnston's The First Avenger: Captain America. This is a fan created concept rendering of what Red Skull could look like in movie form. The computer generated image was created by Sven Juhlin, and passed along to me by /Film reader cole. In the upcoming big screen adaptation Red Skull will be played by Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, Lord of the Rings). Check out the full image after the jump, along with a recent quote from the director about the casting of Weaving.
Click on the image below to see the super high resolution computer rendering:
Earth's Mightiest recently talked with director Joe Johnston about Weaving/Red Skull:
Hugo Weaving was really the only choice for Red Skull. Hugo is a chameleon as an actor. He's played so many incredibly versatile roles, from the LORD OF THE RINGS films, MATRIX, V, PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT. He's never failed to create a multi-layered and complex character. In my own experience with him on THE WOLFMAN, he took a part that was much less significant and inspired us to develop the character into a pivotal role. I wanted Hugo to play Red Skull to SEE what he would bring to the character. He's one of those actors you don't want to look away from...add a red skull into that dynamic and it should be memorable.
In the comic books, Red Skull is Johann Shmidt, appointed by Adolf Hitler as the "head of Nazi terrorist activities with an additional large role in external espionage and sabotage." According to Marvel.com:
"Hitler gave Schmidt an unique uniform with a grotesque red skull mask, and he emerged as the Red Skull. His role was the embodiment of Nazi intimidation, while Hitler could remain the popular leader of Germany. ... He was spectacularly successful, wreaking havoc throughout Europe in the early stages of World War II. The propaganda effect was so great that the United States government decided to counter it by creating their own equivalent using the recipient of the lost Project Rebirth, Steve Rogers, Captain America. The two counterparts soon clashed in what would be a series of engagements throughout the war, ending with a final battle that left the Skull buried under the rubble of a bombed building. Because he was immediately exposed to an experimental gas there, he remained in suspended animation for decades. Johann was eventually rescued in modern times by the terrorist organization, HYDRA. The Skull quickly subverted a cell to his own ambitions of world conquest and the death of Captain America. "