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Before crafting the likes of Thanos and Killmonger, who are often considered some of the top CBM villains, the MCU often struggled to get their villains right, which was apparent in their initial phases. However, the biggest exception during the cinematic giant’s early years was Red Skull, played by Hugo Weaving, who did an impeccable job playing the Hydra head.
Unfortunately, despite having a blast playing the character, Weaving didn’t return to reprise the role inAvengers: Infinity Warand was replaced byThe Walking Deadstar Ross Marquand. AlthoughThe Matrixstar has cited paycheck disputes as the reason for not returning inInfinity WarandEndgame, economics doesn’t seem to be the lone reason behind his absence.
Hugo Weaving Wanted to Escape From Playing Villains
From playingAgent Smith inThe Matrixto voicing Megatron in theTransformers,Hugo Weaving‘s trademark voice and slow, somber acting style have become synonymous with villainous roles. Although the actor is no stranger to taking heroic gigs, it’s the former that has been the highlight of the Aussie star’s illustrious career.
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But even though theLord of the Ringsstar enjoys playing villains following their complex nature, being often typecast into such roles eventually became tiresome for the actor. As a result, afterCaptain America: The First Avenger, Weaving was considering giving up villainous gigs for good.
He toldThe Guardian:
“Villains are fun. But it got to the point where I thought each uber villain was going to bleed into the next. By the time I did Red Skull [the villain in Captain America], I was thinking ‘that’s enough of that’.”
However, his exhaustion from playing villains wasn’t the major reason behind his absence inInfinity War,as it also had to do with his paycheck disputes with the MCU.
MCU Wasn’t Open to Negotiations Recalled Hugo Weaving
Before resorting to Ross Marquand, Marvel initially approached theMatrixstar to reprise his role inInfinity Warand its sequel. But theLOTRstar recalled that the MCU was offering him less money for the twoAvengersflicks than he earned from working onCaptain America, which was also against what they initially agreed on.
He toldTime Out:
“The money they offered me for ‘The Avengers’ as much less than I got for the very first one, and this was for two films. And the promise when we first signed the contracts was that the money would grow each time. They said: ‘It’s just a voice job, it’s not a big deal’. I actually found negotiating with them through my agent impossible.”
Although Weaving missed out on returning as Red Skull in the MCU again, it didn’t bother the actor, as he“didn’t really wanna do it that much”.But despite being overwhelmed by playing a plethora of villains over the years, had Marvel offered him the right amount, Weaving said that he would have done it.
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Captain America: The First Avengeris available to stream on Disney+.
Santanu Roy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2539
Santanu Roy is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 2,000 articles under his belt. He has been pursuing a degree in Animation and possesses a deep love for the medium of animation. Having spent the better part of the last two years pumping out articles for FW, Santanu excels at covering movie analysis and news surrounding Pixar, DCU, DreamWorks, and Batman’s cinematic legacy.With psychological thrillers and intimate slice-of-life dramas ranking among his favorite genres, Santanu is a big admirer of Luca Guadagnino, Shane Black, Park Chan-wook, and Brad Bird.
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hugo weavingRed Skull
