Red Skull

This article is about the Marvel Comics character. For other uses, see Red skull.
Red Skull
The Red Skull as seen on the cover of The Marvels Project #7 (March 2010) by Steve Epting
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics[a]
First appearance
Created by
In-story information
Alter ego
SpeciesHuman mutate
Place of originGermany
Team affiliations
Partnerships
Notable aliases
  • Der Rote Schädel (German name, translation: "The Red Skull")
  • Senator Dell Rusk
  • Bettman P. Lyles
  • The Agent of a Thousand Faces (impersonated in Europe during World War II)
  • The Man (head of the People's Militia)
  • Cyrus Fenton
  • John Smith (the English version of his natural German name)
  • Teacher
  • Tod March (president and founder of Galactic Pictures)
  • Aleksander Lukin
  • The White Skull
Abilities
  • Genius-level intellect
  • Master tactician and strategist
  • Skilled hand-to-hand combatant, marksman and swordsman

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 (March 1941), in which his secret identity is revealed to be George Maxon. It would later be retroactively established that Maxon was merely a decoy who was working for the real Red Skull, Johann Shmidt. Other individuals, including Albert Malik and Shmidt's own daughter Sinthea, have also adopted the Red Skull persona.

In his comic book appearances, the Red Skull is depicted as a Nazi agent and protégé of Adolf Hitler during World War II. 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.[5]

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.


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  1. ^ Misiroglu, Gina Renée; Eury, Michael (2006). The Supervillain Book: The Evil Side of Comics and Hollywood. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 9780780809772.
  2. ^ Christiansen, Jeff (2009). Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Vol. 9. Marvel. p. 71.
  3. ^ Lee, Stan (w), Kirby, Jack (p), Demeo, Mickey (i), Rosen, Sam (let), Lee, Stan (ed). "The Red Skull Strikes!" Tales of Suspense, vol. 1, no. 65 (February 1965). New York, NY: Marvel Comics.
  4. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5 (November 1968), 366 (September 1992), etc.
  5. ^ Albert, Aaron. "Top Ten Comic Book Archenemies - Superhero and Villain Arch-rivals". About.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-28. Retrieved 2008-06-25.