Red Skull

The Red Skull is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by France Herron, Jack Kirby, and Joe Simon, the character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (1941), in which his secret identity is revealed to be George Maxon, who is retroactively established as a decoy working for the real Red Skull, Johann Shmidt, who would debut in Captain America Comics #7 (1941). Other individuals have also adopted the Red Skull persona, including Albert Malik and the original's own daughter Sinthea Shmidt.

In his comic book appearances, the Red Skull is depicted as a Nazi agent and protégé of Adolf Hitler during World War II who becomes an ominous threat to his mentor and the world at large. Although he initially only wears a mask to give his face the appearance of a red skull, Shmidt suffers a horrific disfigurement decades later that causes his face to match his namesake. The Red Skull has endured as the archenemy of the superhero Captain America.

The Red Skull has been adapted in various media incarnations. Scott Paulin portrayed the character in the 1990 direct-to-video film Captain America. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hugo Weaving portrayed the Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and was then replaced by Ross Marquand in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Peter Cullen, Steve Blum, Liam O'Brien and others have provided the character's voice in media ranging from animation to video games.