Captain America concept art reveals original gruesome look for Red Skull

It seems Red Skull’s look in Captain America: The First Avenger could have turned out very differently indeed.

While we saw a scary-looking Hugo Weaving fully masked-up as the villain in the 2011 movie, Marvel Studios’ Head of Visual Development has unveiled an even-more gruesome original design.

Sharing the concept art on Instagram, Ryan Meinerding revealed an “early idea” that depicts the character with his face half-mutilated.

@ryan_meinerding_artInstagram

Related: Captain America’s Anthony Mackie criticises Marvel’s lack of diversity

“This is a very early idea for Red Skull from Captain America: The First Avenger,” he explained. “I was trying to show that the tesseract was actually changing him into Red Skull — that the light it gave off [affected] his skin and skull over time.”

The baddie cropped up recently once again in Avengers: Endgame, this time played by Ross Marquand – and it seems he could make even more appearances in the MCU.

“They [the Russo brothers] said that once the Red Skull is released of the Soul Stone, once Thanos gets it and once Hawkeye gets it, he is essentially free,” the actor explained.

Related: Marvel star Chris Evans says he ‘already misses’ playing Captain America

“But, if we think about it, there are all these different multiverses now. So in one multiverse, when Thanos frees him, he’s free. I would imagine the first thing he would do is, if he still has a vendetta or any part of him still has ambition, go back to Earth.”

He added of how he envisions the character returning: “I think Red Skull could certainly move into that territory where he is just a casual overseer of the world and the celestial bodies of the entire universe, and he only intervenes when he is absolutely needed.

“But that will be interesting if he will be a force of good or evil.”

Sign up for Disney+

Disney+ Disney+

Marvel Studios: The Infinity Saga – Collector’s Edition [Blu-ray, region-free]

Marvel Phase 1-3 complete set Blu-ray

Marvel Studios Amazon

£155.71

Avengers: Endgame 4K Includes Bonus Disk [Blu-ray] [2019] [Region Free]

Disney/Marvel Studios Amazon

£24.25

Avengers: 1-4 Complete Blu-ray Boxset Includes Bonus Disk [2019] [Region Free]

Disney/Marvel Studios Amazon

£26.99

Avengers Collection (1-3 Box-set) [UHD] [Blu-ray] [2018] [Region Free]

Disney/Marvel Studios Amazon

£40.49

Avengers Triplepack Boxset [DVD] [2018]

Disney/Marvel Studios Amazon

£16.94

Marvel Studios Collector’s Edition Box Set – Phase 3 Part 1 [Blu-ray] [2018] [Region Free]

Disney/Marvel Studios Amazon

£29.54

Marvel Studios Collector’s Edition Box Set – Phase 3 Part 1 [DVD] [2018]

Disney/Marvel Studios Amazon

£22.26

Marvel Studios Collector’s Edition Box Set – Phase 2 Blu-ray [Region Free]

Disney/Marvel Studios Amazon

£36.24

Marvel Studios Collector’s Edition Box Set – Phase 2 [DVD]

Disney/Marvel Studios Amazon

£29.99

Marvel Studios Collector’s Edition Box Set – Phase 1 Blu-ray [Region Free]

Disney/Marvel Studios Amazon

Marvel Studios Collector’s Edition Box Set Phase 1 [DVD]

Disney/Marvel Studios Amazon

£27.99

Digital Spy now has a newsletter – sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox.

Looking for more TV recommendations and discussion? Head over to our Facebook Group to see new picks every day, and chat with other readers about what they’re watching right now.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io