First things first, there are major SPOILERS for Avengers: Infinity War in this article, so read at your own risk. There's already to a ton of characters in Infinity War, so many Marvel Cinematic Universe fans weren't expecting much in the way of new or old characters making appearances in the film. There were some obvious characters within the Avengers that many were hoping to find, but sadly they didn't show up. However, hardcore fans were treated to a blast from the MCU's past with the inclusion of Red Skull.
Red Skull first showed up in the MCU in the first Captain America movie stealing the Tesseract as the head of HYDRA. The Tesseract contains the Space Stone and Red Skull uses it as a force against the Nazis and the Axis. After a run in with Captain America, Red Skull picks up the Tesseract and disappears. Many MCU fans just assumed that he was dead, but an Infinity War prequel comic teased that the villain had not died, instead he was blasted into space.
Fast forward to Infinity War when Gamora leads Thanos to Vormir to obtain the Soul Stone. The planet is lifeless except for one cloaked individual who is guarding the Soul Stone. The cloaked figure is Red Skull, looking like a character from the Star Wars universe with that cloak on. After touching the Tesseract, he was doomed to spend the rest of his life on Vormir, guarding an object that he could never touch or even see. Red Skull is the guide to the Soul Stone.
In one of the most emotional scenes in Infinity War, Red Skull informs Thanos that he will have to sacrifice something that he loves in order to obtain the Soul Stone. Thanos begins to cry, which leads Gamora to laugh at her "father," claiming that he can't get the stone because he doesn't love anything. However, Red Skull reveals that he is not shedding a tear for himself, he's crying because he knows that he has to kill Gamora to get the Soul Stone. Gamora tries to kill herself, but Thanos uses the Reality Stone, and then picks her up to throw her off the cliff as sacrifice for the precious stone.
With time travel as a possibility for Avengers 4, we could end up seeing Red Skull yet again on the big screen. While fans were excited to see the character, some were upset to learn that Hugo Weaving was not voicing the character this time around. At the time of the release of Captain America, the actor stated that he wasn't interested in returning to the MCU. SO, The Walking Dead's Ross Marquand stepped up to the plate and did a great job portraying Red Skull. Infinity War is currently in theaters and you can check out the latest TV spot for the movie below, provided by the Marvel Entertainment YouTube channel.