Hugo Weaving is in talks to join the cast of Paramount’s The First Avenger: Captain America as the film’s villain, according to Heat Vision.  Weaving would play the villainous Red Skull.

Joe Johnston (The Wolfman) is directing the movie, which remains in search of the actor to play Steve Rogers, Captain America’s alter ego.

Here is a breakdown of Weaving’s potential role:

“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.”

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