The Directors of INFINITY WAR Open Up About The Surprise Return of That One Character

One of the most shocking and surprising moments in Avengers: Infinity War came when Thanos and Gamora went on their journey to retrieve the Soul Stone. A certain character from the MCU's past shows up during this scene and it's one that seemed to make almost everyone in the theater gasp. If you haven't seen the movie yet...

We learn in Infinity War that the Soul Stone in on the planet of Vormir and the guardian of that Stone is Red Skull! It was so cool seeing Red Skull show up in the movie because no one is expecting it! We learn that that's where the Tesseract ended up sending him at the end of Captain America: The First Avengers. That was also teased in a prequel comic for the film. 

During a recent interview with Uproxx, Joe and Anthony Russo talk about why they ended up using the character in the story. Joe explained:

"Somebody had to be the gatekeeper to the Soul Stone and somebody had to distribute the rules to Thanos and Gamora."

Anthony went on to say that using Red Skull to fill that role was "credible and believable" for the audience, and it totally was! He goes on to explain:

"A character who has been trapped – the Red Skull has been turned into this wraith who now guards the Soul Stone and distributes the rules to whoever shows up their trying to obtain it. It felt like there was more credibility than just a random character. Somebody who has a history with the stones may seem like they have a little more authority in terms of their experience – especially a tragic experience." 

The fans loved that Red Skull was the character they ended up using to fill this role. We've all wanted to see him return at some point in the MCU and we actually got that! As for why Hugo Weaving wasn't brought back to play the character again, Joe said:

"You know, he made a statement a couple of years back that he was done with Marvel. Ross Marquand did an incredible job of capturing not only the essence of his voice, but the essence of the performance – a haunted figure who is now this imprisoned spirit." 

It's unfortunate that Weaving didn't come back to reprise his role because he was awesome in it. Regardless, Ross Marquand did end up doing a great job. 

What did you think of the Red Skull's return in Infinity War?