Meet The Red Skull From Captain America

Entertainment Weekly has a first look at the villainous Red Skull from the upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger. Red Skull was originally weapons developer Johann Schmidt, a Nazi who underwent an experiment to turn him into a super-soldier. His heroic counterpart, Steve Rogers, underwent a similar experiment but his Captain America turned out a whole lot prettier.

The director of Captain America, Joe Johnston (The Wolfman), dishes to EW about the film. He explains that the serum that’s injected in both Schmidt and Rogers brings out each man’s true inner strength. That’s why Captain America ends up looking like the dreamy Chris Evans (The Losers) and Red Skull (played by Hugo Weaving, Lord of the Rings) looks like Lord Voldemort with a really bad sunburn. Although he is rocking that Cthulu-esque belt buckle, I must say.

Captain America: The First Avenger, which Johnston explains will be marketed internationally under The First Avenger, will be released on July 22, 2011. We’ll also see the return of Captain America (along with Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Scarlett Johanssen’s Black Widow, and a slew of other Marvel heroes and villains) in The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, on May 4, 2012. Filming is expected to begin sometime this spring in Cleveland, Ohio.

*Image Credit: Jay Maidment/Marvel Entertainment