We’ve been waiting a long time to find out who exactly would be playing Captain America in Joe Johnston’s Marvel film, The First Avenger: Captain America. Thankfully the same mess doesn’t apply to other characters, including the movie’s villain, Red Skull.

It’s being reported that Hugo Weaving is currently in negotiations to star as the literally red-headed baddie in the movie. Red Skull was the right-hand man to ultimate real-life villain, Adolf Hitler, in the comics when he and Captain America first became enemies during World War II. This storyline also saw both characters end up in a suspended animation that would bring them to modern days, which is how Captain America will likely fit into the Avengers film. Depending on the dirty details of the contract, it’s probably not completely out of the question to think Weaving could return as one of the villains in The Avengers as well.

Johnston recently worked with Weaving in The Wolfman, so that plays a major advantage to this casting. The director has also brought us films such as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Jumanji, Jurassic Park III, and Hidalgo.

Weaving is of course best known as Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy, and as Elrond in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He’s also appeared in V for Vendetta as V, and as Megatron in both Transformers movies.

[Source: Heat Vision]