‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Spoilers: Who Was The Person In The Cloak?

“Avengers: Infinity War” has a massive cast, but there was a big surprise appearance about halfway through the movie when a character appeared in a black cape. It’s such a throwback that some audience members might not even remember him.

[Spoiler Warning: Major “Avengers: Infinity War” spoilers are coming, so don’t read until you’ve seen the movie.]

When Thanos (Josh Brolin) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) end up on Vormir to find the Soul Stone, they meet a creature in a black cloak, who looks much like Death. He isn’t the cosmic entity, though. He is the Red Skull, the villain from “Captain America: The First Avenger.”

In the 2011 movie, Red Skull, while wearing the human façade of Johann Schmidt, found the Tesseract in old Viking ruins. He and Hydra used the Tesseract to make weapons. He wanted to use the Cube to take over the world, overpowering both the Axis and Allied powers in World War II.

Captain America (Chris Evans) attacked Red Skull’s final base, but the villain jumped on a plane with the Space Stone. Cap hopped onto the aircraft to stop him. Suddenly, the Red Skull grabbed the Tesseract and he started seemingly melted. Then he was beamed into space.

Everyone on Earth assumed that Captain America killed him, though no one seemed to notice that Red Skull’s body wasn’t among the frozen wreckage where Cap was found. Audiences didn’t really know where he went until “Avengers: Infinity War.”

Red Skull tells Thanos and Gamora that he is now stuck in this purgatory, forced to advise those who seek the Soul Stone. He tells Thanos that he’ll have to sacrifice a soul in order to get the Soul Stone. The Mad Titan kills his beloved adopted daughter to attain the gem.

The inclusion of Red Skull adds to the finality of “Avengers: Infinity War.” The directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, have been very clear that this is considered the climax of 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Red Skull’s disappearance was a loose plot end that they wrapped up. (Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely wrote the scripts for both “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Avengers: Infinity War.”)

Hugo Weaving, however, did not reprise his role. That was “Walking Dead” actor Ross Marquand under the CGI. It isn’t clear why Weaving did not return, but he has publicly said that he didn’t plan to return to the role.