It’s rare for the MCU to allow one of its villains a multi-movie arc of any kind, so when Red Skull of Captain America: The First Avenger fame popped up again in Avengers: Infinity War, fans quickly got ideas about where Johann Schmidt’s story could go from here. Just take this new theory on Reddit, which predicts one more confrontation between Red Skull and his old foe Steve Rogers in next year’s Avengers: Endgame.
The speculation follows on from the popular prediction that the upcoming Infinity War sequel will see Earth’s Mightiest Heroes travel back in time to undo Thanos’ purge of the universe. Based on this speculation, Reddit user NaveHarder argues that Cap might have the option of settling down for a quiet retirement with his first love Peggy Carter. But in the gang’s quest to acquire all of the Infinity Stones, the case is made that Steve may have to sacrifice his happy ending in order to obtain the Soul Stone, and it’s here that the reunion may happen.
Seeing how Red Skull presumably still bares a grudge against Steve for getting him banished to Vormir for so many decades, there could still be value from a storytelling perspective in bringing the pair back together. That being said, the fixation is probably pretty one-sided by now, since it’s been a long time since Cap has even alluded to his first major nemesis, and his mind is likely occupied these days with resentment towards a much bigger MCU villain.
As for the notion of Chris Evans’ character sacrificing himself for the sake of undoing the Decimation, it’s certainly a very popular theory these days, despite co-director Joe Russo muddying the waters recently with his claim that Steve is “not done yet,” but we’ll find out if there’s any truth to the speculation when Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26th, 2019.