Comments on: Hugo Weaving Doesn’t Want To Play Red Skull Again In Any More Marvel Movies

By: andrew

andrew — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:41:41 +0000

People not familiar with comics may have a hard time understanding, but there is a lot of potential for Red Skull to return with really fun, cataclysmic results (in the context of the universe of the stories), considering the direction they decided to go with in these films. They basically set it up for him to return and be a really huge baddie, possibly teamed up with someone. I'd be disappointed if the character at the very least didn't return.

By: Else Harbeau

Else Harbeau — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:41:41 +0000

A lot of irate fanboys are acting as though the Marvel superhero franchise is somehow artistically on par with Lord of the Rings and the Matrix films… I would argue they're not even close. (Weaving has, in fact, said that the exhaustion involved in and and limited aspects working on the Matrix sequels are a primary reason he's reluctant to sign on for similar, multi-picture deals.) The Hobbit, like Lord of the Rings, is really a small role with a few scenes (if that) per movie… it's the actors playing major characters who had to spend a year on set. Weaving got his scenes done in a few weeks (or did you not read his statements to that effect in the same interview?) . Also, there's a difference between playing a genre villain with a substantial character arc for the first time in one's career, as Weaving did in The Matrix trilogy, and then being expected to play increasingly reductive variations on that theme for the rest of that career.

Weaving has no problem working with prosthetics or taking on ambitious roles– just look at Cloud Atlas, the film he WAS ACTUALLY DOING INTERVIEWS TO PROMOTE. He's just sick of the typecasting and of people fixating on the most limited roles of his career. I think the months of delays in his signing a contract for Captain America were due to this multi-picture issue; he was probably assured off the record that they weren't planning to return his character in the first few sequels. I'm not sure why there's such a fuss now, as the actor has been making similar statements for a year (and much longer about the Transformers films)… I guess the "news" had to filter down to comics blogs before certain fans heard. Weaving has also said he prefers acting in Australian indie projects with substantive characters since… oh, the early 80s, in pretty much every interview he's ever done. I suspect he does the occasional blockbuster to help finance the Australian projects, and in some cases to work with certain directors he admires. (His next project to shoot, Healing, has been in development since 2005 as its director worked to get funding. Incidentally, it is scheduled to be filmed at the same time as the first Captain America sequel.)

By: mike_m

mike_m — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:41:41 +0000

"I would be obliged to, if they forced me to, but they wouldnât want to force someone to do it, if they didnât want to."

Sure he not want to do it, but if they ask, he shouldn't have to be forced as he did sign the contract, that is the deal and he agreed to do.

By: JD

JD — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:41:41 +0000

Weaving's a good actor, but I'd definitely miss the character more then the specific actor….Berk makes a very good point about Weaving's other film series work, so I suspect there's something else he's not mentioning. Maybe he didn't like wearing the prosthetics? Anyway, the Red Skull is a terrific element within the Marvel Universe, and he's not really dependent on any one particular actor. Release Weaving from his contract and recast it with Udo Kier or Arnold Schwarzenegger or something.

By: berk

berk — Sun, 22 May 2016 03:41:41 +0000

Says the man who played the same characters in 3 Matrix movies and 6 Lord of the Rings movies.