For the most part, movies are made to be watched and rewatched over time, but relatively few contain a core message that grows in import with each year that passes. V for Vendetta is undoubtedly one of those movies, because despite it being 20 years since it hit theaters, James McTeigue’s political thriller is every bit as relevant and reflective of our current political climate as it is an exciting, action-packed thriller.

Featuring one of Natalie Portman's most captivating performances, and boasting the Matrix’s Wachowskis as producers, V for Vendetta is an adaptation of the critically acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore, David Lloyd and Tony Weare. The source material is also timeless in a sense, but it’s the live-action flair from McTeigue, star Hugo Weaving, and stuntman extraordinaire David Leitch (John Wick) that turned V and that instantly recognizable mask into a global phenomenon. When I spoke to the filmmaker timed with the film’s 20-year anniversary, he spoke to its continued power as a film amidst the world’s cyclical politics, saying:

Now, we could spend the rest of 2026 talking about politics and how we're all doomed and boned no matter what. OR...we could talk about how V for Vendetta boasts arguably the coolest dominoes scene in all of cinema.

V For Vendetta's Dominoes Sequence Is Still Very Magnificent And Satisfying

Of all the ways for a character to make a final quiet statement before going out with knife fights and a massive blaze of glory, a perfectly crafted domino rally shaped like the character's own symbol is pretty incredible. I don't see Batman or Ethan Hunt or the aforementioned John Wick pulling this sweet move off. It's arguably one of the most satisfying ways for a movie to enter into its big climax, so I had to ask James McTeigue about how hard it was to make that come together. As he put it:

l cannot imagine how much of a nightmare it would have been had Leitch, while in costume, sneezed too hard and accidentally toppled the entire array of dominoes before the cameras started rolling. If it was me, I'd probably superglue the mask straight to my face to avoid ever being seen again. I guess it wouldn't be that haunting.

Still, I wonder if the stress embedded in a sequence like that is why we don't see giant domino set-ups in more movies. It looks great, and is never unsatisfying. Pretty sure the Avatar movies would have made twice as much money if each of them had a scene like this. Or not. You know, it's hard to tell.

James McTeigue On Bringing That Haunting And Explosive Ending Together

After the dominoes give way to V's fantastic slo-mo knife fight, V for Vendetta rockets forward to its humdinger crescendo, with Evey sending the explosive-filled train (and her vigilante lover-mentor's body) beneath the Tower of London and other major landmarks, in order to blow them all sky-high. But not before a massive crowd of Londonites take to the streets wearing black robes and V masks, giving all the authorities quite an unsettling experience just before boom-time.

To be expected, that final sequence was a highly technical combination of a variety of filmmaking techniques brought together to turn England's capital into the most destructive fireworks celebration imaginable. As McTeigue put it:

Any time filmmakers are able to totally shut down busy areas of major cities in this way, it blows my mind. Obviously the easiest way to make this happen was at night, when there are fewer people out and about, but it still must have been a stressball of organization to make sure all the planned shots could be fit into those filming windows. Not to mention wrangling all those hundreds of extras and getting the costuming and timing to work. All it takes is one clumsy actor to botch the whole shebang.

As well, McTeigue talked about also utilizing minatures to get the explosions looking so spiffy, saying:

I gotta say, even if all of V for Vendetta's political and ideological storytelling felt silly in today's modern political climates, those explosions would still look absolutely astounding in comparison to the plethora of awful-looking digitally created explosions that currently being overused in movies, usually for budget's sake. It's hardly a coincidence that two of the film's stunt coordinators David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, went on to insprei the long-awaited Oscar category championing such efforts.

It's a perfect enough movie that I don't quite understand why there was ever any talks about remaking the movie into one of the upcoming DC TV shows produced through James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Studios. Instead of doing all that, just rewatch the 2006 classic, either by picking up the 4K Blu-ray set, or by streaming it via HBO Max subscription.

I’m calling it now, the fifth of November should be a day when we all re-watch 2005’s V for Vendetta. I’m going to add it to my own personal 2025 movie schedule. November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day in the United Kingdom, and for us Yanks, that doesn’t mean much. In Great Britain, and in the movie, it’s a significant day. We can have our own little bit of fun here in the former colonies, where the celebrations of Guy Fawkes Day ended around the time we revolted against the crown in 1776, by watching the rare non-superhero comic book movie about a dystopian future in London.

The Movie Is A Good, If Scary, Reminder That Anything Is Possible

We should never take for granted the freedoms that democracy has given us, and V for Vendetta is a realistic, yet stark reminder that all governments, no matter how stable, can be delicate. It's one of the best movies about a dystopian future ever produced by Hollywood, based on one of the best comic books of all time from the enigmatic Alan Moore.

The movie was supposed to be released on November 4th, 2005, just in time for the Guy Fawkes celebrations that year, but its release had to be pushed back to March 2006 after being shown at some festivals in 2005. That means the movie turns 20 around now. You can pick whichever date works for you, but for me, I’ll be watching tonight. The story of Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman in one of her best roles) works any time of year, but when the nights start getting dark early, it’s perfect. So here we are, the fifth of November.

Let’s Not Get Too Crazy Here

I’m not advocating for violence against the state, as V (Hugo Weaving) does in the movie. No, political violence is never the right answer... except in V for Vendetta, of course. The holiday in the U.K. is actually to celebrate the prevention of political violence, while the movie encourages it against a totalitarian, fascist state that the country has become in the “near-future.”

We also have the Fourth of July here in the United States, where we do pretty much the same thing as the Brits do today. We light off fireworks, build fires in the backyard and celebrate all that makes our country great. We celebrate overthrowing a tyrannical government every year on the 4th, the U.K. commemorates the prevention of a violent overthrow, but the intention is the same: to have a good time honoring our histories. Or is it honouring?

I’m a little bummed there aren’t any anniversary screenings of V for Vendetta this year. Maybe we’ll get them on the 2026 schedule. In the meantime, I’ll be renting it on demand with my Amazon Prime Video subscription and hoping that our future is nothing like London’s future in the movie.

Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power Season 2 is here! But as the first batch of episodes dropped this week, don’t expect one alum of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies, Hugo Weaving, to be tuning into the prequel show. The 64-year-old British actor has a big reason why he’s not diving back into the franchise as a viewer, and it honestly sounds reasonable.

Hugo Weaving played the role of J.R.R. Tolkien’s half-elven bearer of one of the rings, Elrond, in five of the six Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies (including the Hobbit trilogy). When the actor was recently asked if he’s all caught up on the series ahead of its recent Season 2 premiere, he said this:

While speaking to RadioTimes, Weaving shouted out Robert Aramayo, the new actor playing Elrond thousands of years prior to his own version for Rings of Power, while respectfully sharing that no, he’s not watching the new Lord of the Rings show. Hugo Weaving technically spent a decade of his life playing a key player in Middle-Earth and he finds that “too long” for him. As he continued:

The British actor immersed himself deeply into Tolkien’s world throughout the '00s, from Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy to his The Hobbit trilogy (which ended in 2014), as the wise figure who aids in the fight against Sauron for the One Ring. While many would associate the actor very deeply with the role, Weaving has been happy to move forward from Middle-earth. His most recent role is as a new character on Season 4 of Slow Horses alongside Gary Oldman, which premieres on Apple TV+ next week.

Back in 2020, Hugo Weaving was asked if he’d go as far as reprising the role in Rings of Power, to which he said he “had more than enough of it” and would “absolutely not” be returning as Elrond. That’s all been good news for Robert Aramayo, who fantastically plays a younger version of the famed Lord of the Rings character alongside a younger Galadriel, whom Cate Blanchett originally played in the movies before Morfydd Clark was cast for the Amazon series.

Hey, living in Middle-earth forever isn’t for everyone! Hugo Weaving’s incredible performance as Elrond will certainly remain forever in the five movies he starred in. And it’s been a blast to see Robert Aramayo’s take on the role, which is streaming with an Amazon Prime subscription!

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power heavily expanded the lore created by J.R.R. Tolkin years ago. While it mostly stays true to what longtime fans know, it also expands Middle-earth in some fresh ways and introduces some exciting new characters in the process. Among those new faces is the Silvan elf warrior Arondir, who’s played by Ismael Cruz Córdova. With his casting, Córdova made history as the first Latino actor to portray an elf in the long-running franchise. He’s quite proud to be a part of the beloved saga and recently opened up about crafting a character that looks like him while following in the footsteps of series alums like Orlando Bloom and Cate Blanchett. 

A longtime fan of the epic fantasy property, Ismael Cruz Córdova came into Amazon’s ambitious production possessing a lot of respect for what had come before. Of course, the actor was in a very interesting position because, as mentioned, there’d never been an elf like his before. He was aware of the typical characteristics that are associated with his character’s breed. Nevertheless, he was conscious of the fact that he was going to have to bring something unique to the proceedings: 

I’d say that the 36-year-old Puerto Rican actor was successful, as Arondir certainly has a demeanor that parallels many of the famous characters that came before him. However, he also has a distinct vibe that’s very unique to him. While speaking with Gold Derby, the Miss Bala star went on to discuss the work of other elf actors, including Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving. They all played notable elves Legolas, Elrond and Galadriel, respectively. The ROP star specifically discussed how his approach compares to theirs while also sending a little bit of love their way: 

Ismael Cruz Córdova has done a great job in the role thus far, and a number of fans seem to have taken to the character. Unfortunately, there are some who haven’t been as high on the new elf or Córdova’s casting. The actor sadly faced “vicious” backlash after he joined The Rings of Power, though he mostly seems to have handled it well. And on a more positive note, he’s since received support from Orlando Bloom as well as numerous fans. The negativity has been disheartening to see, but it’s definitely wonderful that Bloom, Elijah Wood and more alums have been defending Córdova and the show’s other actors of color. 

Season 2 of the LOTR series is currently set for release in 2024, and Ismael Cruz Córdova will once again be a part of the cast. One can’t help but shake the feeling that there’s still a lot to be explored with Arondir, and I’d wager that Córdova is eager to continue the journey. Here’s hoping he’s able to further flesh out the character in interesting ways and simultaneously serve as inspiration for those who’ve been waiting for such an elf.

Anyone with a Prime Video subscription can check out the first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power now. Those you’re looking for more small-screen fare can also read over the 2023 TV schedule.

Spoilers ahead for The Matrix Resurrections. 

Christmas is always a big time for new movies, and this season certainly didn’t disappoint. One of the latest releases is Lana Wachowski’s The Matrix Resurrections, which arrived in both theaters and streaming on HBO Max. While fans were thrilled to see a number of returning faces including Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, it turns out that the project could have included another iconic original actor.

The Matrix Resurrections was an interesting experience for the hardcore fandom, as a number of actors were recast for this new adaptation of the story– including Morpheus. But one of the movie’s twists revealed that Jonathan Groff’s character was actually Agent Smith, the antagonist made famous by Hugo Weaving in the original trilogy. It turns out that the OG was approached about returning to his role, as co-writer Aleksandar Hemon recently explained,

Well, my mind is blown. While Jonathan Groff did a killer job tormenting and battling Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Resurrections, original fans likely would have lost their collective minds seeing Hugo Weaves back as Agent Smith. Alas, that didn’t ultimately pan out.

Aleksandar Hemon’s comments to io9 help to show how much The Matrix Resurrections changed ahead of principal photography. He seems to believe the story of the new movie was actually helped by Jonathan Groff’s performance. Namely because it was far more emotional than Hugo Weaving’s version. And with the new Smith also having a dual role as Thomas Anderson’s business partner, Groff was able to have a major presence throughout the new blockbuster’s entire runtime.

Indeed, Jonathan Groff kicked some serious ass in The Matrix Resurrections, going toe to toe with Keanu Reeves’ Neo in the process. Groff previously admitted to being nervous about getting so physical with the John Wick star, and shared a funny story about thinking he’d peed himself in the midst of a scene. Don’t worry, the Hamilton actor didn’t actually urinate while fighting Reeves.

Given the twist ending of The Matrix Resurrection, some fans are already hoping that Lana Wachowski might craft another trilogy of movies. But the Sense8 director has denied any plans for more movies, instead jacking back in because she had some personal issues to work through via art. We’ll just have to see if anything changes from the powers that be at Warner Bros.

The Matrix Resurrections is streaming and in theaters now. Be sure to check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

We love to hate movie villains and as it turns out there's a number of actors who do not mind playing the bad guy either... even if it's again and again. There’s a number of actors that come to mind who we go into a movie thinking they will be revealing their evil plot or betraying another character’s trust. Most recently this happened with the casting of Mads Mikkelsen in the Indiana Jones franchise. Although we have no idea who he'll play, fans jumped right to the question as whether he'd be the film's mysterious antagonist.

You know how we always expect Tom Hanks to play an inspiring or lovable character? This list is the opposite of that. Let's talk about the actors who are almost always cast as the villain:

Mads Mikkelsen

Since Mads Mikkelsen was cast in Indiana Jones 5 last week, I assure you, most of our brains lit up with the assumption that the actor is about to become the next adversary to Harrison Ford’s Dr. Henry Jones Jr. Now, that may not be the case. Perhaps Mikkelsen is a new friendly archeologist in the game eager to assist the legendary hero on his next adventure. After all, he was a good guy in Rogue One. Still, as Mikkelsen explained to Esquire, he loves playing these juicy, antagonistic roles and has no problem with taking one after another:

Mads Mikkelsen made a lasting impression as a villain for Casino Royale, and has gone on to star in Hannibal, Doctor Strange and Chaos Walking. He'll soon star in Fantastic Beasts 3 as Gellert Grindelwald. Now that we've heard the current king of movie villainy, let’s get into the other actors that we hesitate to trust in movies:

Javier Bardem

Not unlike Mads Mikkelsen, Spanish actor Javier Bardem has had more than his share of villainous roles, and he’s also earned the status of Bond villain as Skyfall’s Silva. He most famously earned the role of main Hollywood antagonist for playing Anton Chigurh in 2007’s No Country For Old Men. He won an Oscar for the role and has often gone for more malicious characters, such as Captain Salazar in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. That said, he will play a key ally to Dune’s protagonist Paul Atreides as Stilgar in the upcoming Denis Villenueve blockbuster.

Willem Dafoe

How incredible is it that Willem Dafoe’s actual given name sounds like “da foe,” or “the villain,” and that’s summed up how many of us perceive his career. Sometimes it’s all in the name. Dafoe was unforgettably the Green Goblin to Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man in the very first big screen take on the superhero. He was also a pesky assassin in The Grand Budapest Hotel and an angry lighthouse keeper with Robert Pattinson in The Lighthouse. Although the actor is a well-known movie villain, he’s an eclectic character actor who has explored a lot of different kinds of characters throughout the years.

Hugo Weaving

Another frequenter of the dark side is Hugo Weaving, who has played the masked V in V For Vendetta, Agent Smith in The Matrix, Megatron in the Transformers and Red Skull in the first Captain America movie. The English actor has shown a subtle terror to his villainy, which his fellow actors on this list don’t always show. When you feel a cold chill around a character without the big theatrics involved, that’s a seriously sinister role. Weaving has pulled off more than a few of those.

Jared Leto

He's played The Joker, DC's most infamous villain, in Suicide Squad and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, but Jared Leto’s bad guy roles do not stop there. This is a funny one because Leto got his start as teen heartthrob Jordan Catalano on My So-Called Life. But then he was a home invader in Panic Room, John Lennon’s killer Mark David Chapman in Chapter 27, starred as Blade Runner 2049’s villain and appeared The Little Things to once again play a criminal. He’ll flip the script next year as Morbius, who seems to be a misunderstood vampire rather than full-on Dracula.

Vincent D’Onofrio

One does wonder if actors such as Vincent D’Onofrio are actively looking and auditioning for villain roles or seeking them out. The 61-year-old has also played a lot of deliciously bad guys on the big screen and television. More recently, he’s found acclaim from Marvel fans for his version of Kingpin in the Netflix series Daredevil. Aside from that, D’Onofrio was totally the gross bug alien in Men in Black and the antagonist in 2015’s Jurassic World. Law & Order fans may feel off set from this thanks to his role as Detective Robert Goren in Criminal Intent.

Edward Norton

Then there’s Edward Norton, who fooled us once with his character’s backstabbing in The Italian Job and went there by playing a neo-Nazi in American History X. In between some smarmy roles over the years, he did switch things up by playing Bruce Banner, a.k.a. The Hulk, before he was replaced by nice-guy actor Mark Ruffalo. Norton has the ability to play the sneaky villain or the unassuming baddie, and props to him for playing at his strengths over the years. But sometimes when he goes for earnest roles, I question it for a moment. He keeps us guessing.

Christoph Waltz

Our last stop on the villain train is Mr. Christoph Waltz, who seems to be a lovely man in real life, but can’t stop and won’t stop playing the most despicable humans Hollywood can think of. The Austrian-German actor can honestly thank Quentin Tarantino for this perception thanks to his memorable roles in Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained. The Oscar-winner has also been the Bond villain Blofeld in Spectre, a cruel circus handler in Water for Elephants and Big Eyes’ Walter Keane. You know, the guy who stole credit for his wife’s work.

Lots of iconic actors here who love to play bad and do it very well. It's really a compliment to their ability to remain in our heads as these characters more than anything. Which one is your favorite to see as the villain? Vote in our poll below!

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Actor Jamie Dornan gained worldwide fame as the titular BDSM enthusiast in the Fifty Shades of Grey film series, but some of his best acting work has been on the small screen. In particular, he shined opposite Gillian Anderson for the serial killer thriller The Fall. Now, it's been announced that Dornan has signed on for a new TV show called The Tourist, which will see him in the role of the protagonist for a change. At least, I think he's the protagonist.

The Tourist will be produced by the BBC, with HBO Max stepping in as a co-producer, making it the project's streaming home for U.S. audiences. And by all means, HBO Max sounds like the proper place for Jamie Dornan's gritty new show, which is being set up as a six-episode limited series.

In The Tourist, Jamie Dornan will star as a British native, known only as The Man, who is in the Australian outback when he finds himself being chased down by a big tanker truck. The truck driver puts Dornan's character through a wild cat-and-mouse chase that unfortunately ends in disaster, with The Man waking up inside the hospital with not only physical injuries but mental ones as well. It turns out he can't remember who he is.

After realizing that there are other less-than-virtuous people trying to track him down, The Man dives into a deeper exploration of the deadly outback in search of answers. Is he just an innocent victim being targeted by evil attackers, or is he just as dangerous and villainous as his assailants? That mystery will likely keep fans busy throughout the season.

Here's what Jamie Dornan had to say about the new project:

The Tourist also announced several co-stars that will be joining Jamie Dornan. Unbelievable's Danielle Macdonald as Helen Chambers, a troubled Probationary Constable, with The Matrix vet Hugo Weaving as Agent Lachlan Rogers, one of Australia's most acclaimed detective inspectors who is in charge of The Man's case. Cursed's Shalom Brune-Franklin will play a waitress named Luci who gets caught up in The Man's attempt to solve the mystery behind his identity.

Jamie Dornan's The Tourist is in good hands with creators Harry and Jack Williams, whose company Two Brothers Pictures is also producing. The siblings were producers for the highly acclaimed UK comedy Fleabag, and created the excellent (if depressing) series The Missing and its spinoff Baptiste, as well as other recent dramas The Widow and Liar. If nothing else, we can expect to see some traumatizing visuals and some extremely dark humor.

Before The Tourist arrives on the streaming service HBO Max, Jamie Dornan can be seen in Kirstin Wiig's new comedy Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (out February 12) and Kenneth Branagh's new drama Belfast, which also co-stars Outlander's Caitriona Balfe. And don't forget to catch him in the now-rentable drama Wild Mountain Thyme, which often made the actor cry on the set.

In case you somehow missed it, Amazon is making a Lord of the Rings TV show (although Elijah Wood may disagree). The iconic film series featured a bevy of stars, including Hugo Weaving, who has blunt thoughts about possibly returning for the Amazon series. Depending on your foreknowledge, Weaving’s answer might surprise you.

Hugo Weaving played Elrond throughout the Lord of the Rings film series, but would he be willing to reprise the role again for the show? The Amazon series already excited fans with the reported casting of young Galadriel, which was the part played by Cate Blanchett in the movies. Blanchett may be out, but could Weaving be up for it? Asked about the possibility, he told Variety:

So, that's a no? Just kidding. That's obviously a big, fat NO. Hugo Weaving, irrefutably, has zero interest in returning to The Lord of the Rings universe, but it's a reasonable response considering that he starred in the original trilogy and two of The Hobbit movies. Five times was enough for him, and Weaving hinted that he is not the only one who is surprised that they're heading back to the LOTR universe.

Orlando Bloom never expected Lord of the Rings to get remade, and, so far, he's been correct in his assumption. The Amazon series will take an epic leap back in time as it heads into the Second Age portion of the story. Thus, making it a prequel to those more familiar big screen tales from Middle-earth.

Hugo Weaving may be tired of all things LOTR, but acknowledges that he would have been willing to have another go at The Matrix. Weaving starred as Agent Smith in the original franchise, which is now heading into new territory. In the end, The Matrix 4 decided to move on without Weaving due to issues relating to scheduling conflicts. One would imagine the LOTR TV show (also filming in New Zealand, like the movies did) might have led to a similar story. Could that have figured into Hugo Weaving’s reluctant answer? Or is it simply franchise fatigue?

Why Hugo Weaving was willing to do more of The Matrix and not Lord of the Rings is anyone’s guess. He did have a bit more time with the Lord of the Rings universe than he did The Matrix, so that may hold the answer. Regardless of his reasons, an appearance in the TV show with a massive episode count is off the table.

Whatever the story, the cast of The Lord of the Rings TV show will get a 5-month break in between Season 1 and 2, which led to a major star deciding to drop out of the project, as Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’s Will Poulter ultimately opted to exit the project. He was replaced in the role of Beldor by Game of Thrones’ Robert Aramayo.

In the end, Will Poulter has not missed out on the chance to go toe-to-toe with Hugo Weaving. The Lord of the Rings TV show will arrive at some point in the future on Amazon Prime Video. While you wait to return to Middle-earth, check out this fall’s premieres.

The Matrix franchise is an iconic pice of film history, known for breaking new ground in terms of cinematography and effects. Fans were thrilled to hear that Lana Wachowski would be back in the director's seat for The Matrix 4, which would feature the return of actors Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Unfortunately Hugo Weaving won't be appearing as the villainous Agent Smith, and now we know exactly how that came to be.

Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith was the primary antagonist of the Matrix trilogy, battling Keanu Reeves' Neo countless times in the process. And while a handful of actors will be reprising their roles for the mysterious fourth movie, both he and Laurence Fishburne won't be following suit. Weaving recently spoke to this turn of events, revealing how close he was to joining Matrix 4. As he put it,

What a bummer. It looks like Matrix fans might be feeling some FOMO when the upcoming fourth movie arrives in theaters. Because while Hugo Weaving was in negotiations to return as Agent Smith, those eventually fell through. And it looks like the issue might be a scheduling one, especially after filming for The Matrix 4 was delayed months amid global health concerns.

Hugo Weaving's comments to ComingSoon peels back the curtain on what it's really like to negotiate in the film world. While the public gets to enjoy a finished product, there's a ton of moving pieces that must fit together in order to make each release happen. This is especially true with massive franchises like The Matrix, which has film sets spread across various cities and countries.

As Hugo Weaving explained, his absence from The Matrix 4 may largely be a scheduling issue. Because while he wanted to film over the summer, the proposed film schedule actually called for the actor in February until May. And while at this point the movie's original plans for production were thrown out the window, Weaving's character ultimately fell by the wayside for the movie's story.

The Matrix 4's contents and plot are currently a complete mystery, so there's no telling when Lana Wachowski will bring for her return to the beloved science fiction franchise. She's assembled a killer cast to bring the story to life, including newcomers Neil Patrick Harris, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Priyanka Chopra, Jonathan Groff, and Jessica Henwick.

The Matrix 4 is currently expected to arrive in theaters (sans Hugo Weaving) on April 1t, 2022. In the meantime, check out our 2021 release list to plan your trips to the movies next year.

It has been nearly 20 years since audiences first met and fell in love with the stellar and expansive cast of The Lord Of The Rings. Over the course of three epic movies released in sequential years, the Middle Earth saga became one of the most beloved and successful franchises in cinematic history, partly thanks to the all-star cast. But in the years following the conclusion of Peter Jackson's crowning achievement, what have cast-members like Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, and Orlando Bloom been up to?

Well, quite a bit, actually. In the 17 years since the release of The Return Of The King, everyone from Viggo Mortensen to Andy Serkis have gone on to become household names after spring-boarding into stardom for their appearances in J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece. And while we will have to wait a little longer than expected to see the cast of the Amazon's Lord Of The Rings series in action, let's take a look back at the original cast and everything they've been up to since completing their journey.

Cate Blanchett (Galadriel)

Cate Blanchett's voice is one of the first audiences hear in the prologue of The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring, during which time her character, Galadriel, explains the creation and history of the Rings of Power. Throughout here appearances in the trilogy, the wise elf provides guidance to Frodo and other members of the fellowship. Over the past 17 years, the Australian-born actress has starred in dozens of feature films, stage productions, and television series, during which time she has won two Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actress in The Aviator; Best Actress Blue Jasmine). In addition to a number of dramatic roles, Blanchett has also popped up in Thor: Ragnarok, Cinderella, Ocean's 8, and is currently working with Guillermo del Toro for Nightmare Alley, a psychological thriller co-starring Bradley Cooper.

Liv Tyler (Arwen Undómiel)

Liv Tyler was at the peak of her career when she starred as Arwen Undómiel in The Lord Of The Rings. Daughter of the powerful Elven leader Elrond, Arwen proves herself to be quite handy throughout the trilogy, including saving Frodo from the black riders and striking up a love affair with future king, Aragorn. Since she completed her role in Peter Jackson's trilogy, Tyler has had a great deal of success in her professional life, with appearances in films like The Strangers, The Incredible Hulk, and Ad Astra, as well as television series like The Leftovers and Harlots. Tyler also has a starring role in the Fox action procedural, 9-1-1: Lone Star, which also stars Rob Lowe.

Orlando Bloom (Legolas)

One of the nine key members of the Fellowship of the Ring, the Sindarian Elf Legolas was a vital character in the The Lord Of The Rings thanks to his cool, calm, and collected demeanor and his impeccable archery and swordsmanship. Brought to life by a young Orlando Bloom, Legolas quickly became a fan favorite. Just as one saga was coming to an end for the English actor, another began with the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise that only boosted Bloom's star appeal. Bloom's latest completed film, The Outpost, was supposed to premiere at the 2020 South by Southwest Film Festival, but the festival, and screening, was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to his movie roles, Bloom is also the star of the Amazon original series Carnival Row, which is currently in production on Season 2.

Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn)

The de facto leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the main protagonist of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Aragorn proved time and time again why not all hope is lost for man. Brought to life by the superb acting prowess of Viggo Mortensen, the "King" is character worth remembering. Mortensen followed up his Middle Earth appearances with a long list of roles that includes A History Of Violence, Captain Fantastic, and Green Book, which netted Danish-American actor an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in 2019. Mortensen recently made his directorial debut with Falling, a drama in which he stars alongside Lance Henriksen and Laura Linney.

Andy Serkis (Gollum)

Andy Serkis became a massive star after his gripping and frightening take on Gollum in Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Over the course of three movies, audiences loved and hated this oddly sympathetic character, making Serkis a household name in the process. The English actor has continued to be one of the busiest figures in the film industry since the conclusion of the trilogy 17 years ago, including appearances in Star Wars, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and The Planet Of The Apes reboot trilogy. The actor and motion-capture mastermind is currently directing the thrilling Venom 2 and starring in The Batman, both of which instantly become better with Serkis attached.

Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins)

Elijah Wood has been a name in Hollywood for about as long as I can remember. Even before he showed up as Frodo Baggins, nephew of Bilbo and carrier of the Ring, Wood was a major child actor and has continued to follow suit with some of the wildest roles in cinema. In recent years, Wood has shown up in everything from the 2019 psychdelic horror film Color Out Of Space to oddball dark comedy I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore, and just about every odd role in between.

Ian McKellen (Gandalf)

Throughout all of the Lord Of The Rings movies (and The Hobbit as well) Sir Ian McKellen kills it as the legendary wizard Gandalf (both grey and white). From the first time audiences catch an eye of Gandalf sitting atop a wagon of fireworks, it was easy to tell that there was a lot to love with this character. But it's not all fun and games with Gandalf, as the wizard proves to be powerful and stern throughout the journey to destroy the Ring once and for all. Much like Gandalf, McKellen has quite a track record, including his most recent appearances in The Good Liar, Ian McKellen On Stage, and Cats. Yes, Gandalf was in Cats.

Miranda Otto (Éowyn)

Introduced in The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, Éowyn, a noblewoman from Rohan, quickly became one of the most badass characters in Peter Jackson's trilogy. Her role was expanded in The Return Of The King where she took on one of the nine Nightriders and gave the empowering line, "I am no man" as she cut him down. Miranda Otto, the Australian actress behind the role, has been quite busy in the years following her time in Middle Earth, including most recently in the Netflix series, Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, where she portrays the young witch's aunt, Zelda.

Hugo Weaving (Elrond)

Elrond, one of the first of the Elves to be featured in the prologue of The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring, was one of the Elven leaders in Middle Earth who provided guidance and counsel for Aragorn and the rest of the Fellowship before and during the quest to destroy the Ring. Hugo Weaving, the man behind the role, is mostly known for the role of Agent Smith in The Matrix and its sequels, but the acclaimed actor has also appeared in V For Vendetta and Captain America: The First Avenger. Weaving is set to appear in three films in 2020: Measure For Measure, Loveland, and Lone Wolf, all three of which are in post-production.

Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee)

Sean Astin was already a star before he signed on to play Samwise Gamgee in The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring, mostly notably for his appearances in The Goonies, Encino Man, and Rudy to name a few. His take on Samwise, the friend and sidekick of main protagonist Frodo Baggins, brought a great deal of humor, charm, and surprisingly enough seriousness to the trilogy. Astin has remained busy over the years, including an amazing role as Bob Newby in Stranger Things. Astin is next set to appear in the American crime thriller Adverse at some point in 2020.

Sean Bean (Boromir)

Is there a movie/television show where Sean Bean doesn't die? Patriot Games, Goldeneye, Game Of Thrones, and countless others all feature some pretty gruesome deaths involving the English actor. Well, add The Lord Of The Rings to that list as Bean's character, Boromir, dies in the final moments of The Fellowship Of The Ring. This noble character was a far-stretch from some of Bean's previous roles and cutthroat and power-hungry villains, but laid the groundwork for his portrayal of the ill-fated Ned Stark in Game Of Thrones. Bean is currently set to appear in Posessor, a 2020 horror film from Brandon Cronenberg, the son of body horror legend David Cronenberg.

John Rhys-Davis (Gimli)

John Rhys-Davies is best well known for his role of Gimli, the foul-mouthed and strong-willed dwarven warrior who served as an instrumental member of the Fellowship of the Ring. The Welsh actor also known for his performance in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, has appeared in dozens of roles following his time in The Lord Of The Rings, including his spin at the Brine King in the 2018 DCEU blockbuster Aquaman.

Dominic Monaghan (Meriadoc Brandybuck)

Dominic Monaghan has been one of the most successful actors who achieved fame in The Lord Of The Rings. Featured in all three movies as the lovable and hilarious Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck, Monaghan, alongside Billy Boyd, brought some much-needed comedic relief to some of the trilogy's darkest moments. In the years following the release of The Return Of The King, Monaghan has starred in Lost, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker. And since 2012, Monaghan has even hosted his own nature series: Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan.

Billy Boyd (Pippin Took)

Wherever Merry went in The Lord Of The Rings, Pippin Took was sure to be right by his side or not far behind. Pippin, the fun-loving Hobbit with the voice of an angel worked his way into the hearts of millions of the trilogies fans thanks to that charm and innocence. Billy Boyd, the actor behind the famous character has had a successful acting and music career in the years following his appearances in The Lord Of The Rings, including a couple one-off performances on the hit fantasy series Outlander.

Ian Holm (Bilbo Baggins)

Actor Ian Holm had one hell of a career in the decades leading up to his portrayal of an older Bilbo Baggins in The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring, on the silver screen, on television sets around the world, and the stage. Holm would continue to add titles to his filmography in the years following his take on Bilbo, including Garden State, The Aviator, and The Hobbit, where he reprised his famous role. The English actor hasn't done much since he finished the filming of The Hobbit: The Battled Of The Five Armies, but at 88 years old, I don't blame him for taking it easy after all these years.

Well, that's what the cast of The Lord Of The Rings has been up to over the past 17 years. It's safe to say that each and every one of the actors who lent their talents to the legendary fantasy trilogy have been quite busy since then.

Per The Matrix 4 news that’s been rolling in semi-regularly ever since the project was officially announced last summer, while most of the cast will be filled with new characters, there will be a sprinkling of familiar faces. However, don’t expect to see Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith among this lineup.

Hugo Weaving has confirmed that he will not reprise Agent Smith, the antagonistic AI program who was was a huge player in the original Matrix trilogy, for The Matrix 4. However, unlike what happened when he was approached to reprise Red Skull in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Weaving isn’t returning as Agent Smith because of a pay dispute, but rather due to scheduling issues. According to the actor:

Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play The Visit is in rehearsals right now and will open at London’s National Theatre on January 31. As Hugo Weaving explained to Time Out, he tried his best to do both this stage production and The Matrix 4, spending weeks conversing with director Lana Wachowski and attempted to get the schedules to line up. While eventually it looked from Weaving’s end like everything was settled, evidently Wachowski felt differently.

So whatever’s being planned for The Matrix 4, Hugo Weaving won’t be part of it, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying on his part. While one might initially assume that this means Agent Smith won’t appear in the movie (remember, he seemed to be permanently destroyed towards the end of The Matrix Revolutions), knowing the world of the Matrix, I could imagine the character still showing up, but being played by a different actor. Maybe that’s who someone like Jonathan Groff or Max Riemelt could be playing.

Frankly, aside from which actors are appearing, we’re still in the dark about The Matrix 4. No official plot details have been revealed yet, though as with most blockbusters based on existing properties, rumors about the story have circulated. With shooting scheduled to begin soon, hopefully that will mean some concrete narrative information will be provided to the public so we have a better idea about what’s in store.

As for who will be returning for The Matrix 4, the most prominent Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, reprising Neo and Trinity, respectively. We’ve also learned that Jada Pinkett Smith will be back as Niobe, and just days ago, Lambert Wilson stated he’s in talks to reprise The Merovingian. There’s still no word on Laurence Fishburne, although supposedly Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is playing a younger version of Morpheus.

The Matrix 4 still doesn’t have a release date, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for that and more updates on its progress. In the meantime, browse through our 2020 release schedule to plan your visits to the theater this year accordingly.

The grand finale of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, saw the return of a lot of characters that we never expected to see again. However, the most shocking cameo of them all might have been Red Skull. Captain America's original nemesis was discovered to be the keeper of the Soul Stone in Avengers: Infinity War, but something about him was different.

While Hugo Weaving had played Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger, it was another actor taking it on for Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Many wondered why Red Skull had gone through this change, and it was eventually confirmed that Weaving was asked to reprise the role, but that he turned it down. Now, the actor has spoken out as to why.

Apparently, while Hugo Weaving claims he loved playing Red Skull and would have happily done it again, he found working with Marvel Studios on the contracts to get it done "impossible." It seems that Hugo Weaving's original Marvel contract guaranteed him a certain amount of money for return appearances, but Marvel wanted to renegotiate the deal, and the two sides just never came to agreement. As Weaving told Yahoo...

As is the case with many Marvel Studios contracts, Hugo Weaving originally signed a deal for three appearances, but this was done without any specific plan of how Red Skull might appear after Captain America: The First Avenger. The idea to bring the character back didn't happen for several years. When it did, Red Skull wasn't being brought back to be a major villain anymore, but simply a supporting character.

It seems that, since the plan was for a smaller role, one that would have only been voice over, Marvel Studios didn't want to pay the agreed upon amount, which would have seen Weaving paid more for his Avengers: Infinity War appearance than he was for Captain America: The First Avenger.

It's easy to see how this deal was having trouble from the start. While it's understandable to see Marvel wanting to change this payout, especially considering how expensive these two Avengers films were going to be, If Hugo Weaving had signed a deal, of course he's not going to want to take less.

If the two sides had been able to come to agreement, Weaving would have done the job, but it seems he wasn't that excited about it, and so probably wasn't as willing to move his side of the negotiation very far.

One way or another, money is often the reason these things don't come together. In this case, it's too bad that happened, it would have been great to see, or in this case, hear, Weaving's Red Skull back in the MCU.

Next month marks the twentieth anniversary of the 1999 action sci-fi film The Matrix. Two decades after its release in one of the best years for movies ever, The Matrix still holds up and it is plain to see how much it has influenced the movies that followed it in the new millennium. Despite a pair of sequels that couldn’t live up to the original (an arguably impossible task) The Matrix remains a seminal film of the 90s, the sci-fi genre, and cinema as a whole.

The success of The Matrix and its lasting impact are due as much to the film’s cast as they are to its groundbreaking special effects and mind-bending cyberpunk story. Twenty years is a long time and, while not all of the cast members of that beloved film have become blockbuster mainstays, many of them can still be seen today on screens big and small.

So let’s catch up with the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar and one particularly nasty program to see the cast of The Matrix then and now. Take a look.

Keanu Reeves (Neo)

If you don’t know what Keanu Reeves has been up to in the twenty years since he got the role Will Smith turned down in The Matrix, your name must be Rip Van Winkle. Already an action star thanks to Speed and Point Break, Keanu Reeves has remained a constant presence on the big screen to this day.

After The Matrix and its sequels, Keanu Reeves remained an actor known for action and science fiction with roles in films like Constantine, A Scanner Darkly, The Day the Earth Stood Still and 47 Ronin. Keanu Reeves also achieved an incredible feat, starring in another popular action trilogy, the John Wick series, the third film of which releases later this year.

Keanu Reeves has also continued his career as a leading man in romance movies and rom-coms in films like Sweet November in 2001, The Lake House in 2006 and Destination Wedding in 2018. In 2019, besides his return as John Wick, Keanu Reeves also joins Toy Story 4 in an unspecified role. Beyond that, there is a fan hope he will one day show up in the MCU as well as the always-lingering possibility of Bill & Ted 3.

Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity)

Carrie-Anne Moss was primarily a TV actress prior to 1999, but her role as Trinity in The Matrix took her career to the next level and in the two decades since she has been a presence on both film and television. She has even lent her voice to the popular Mass Effect series of video games.

Carrie-Anne Moss showed up in Christopher Nolan's 2000 breakout Memento. She also had roles in a wide range of films like Chocolat, The Chumscrubber and Disturbia. In more recent years, Carrie-Anne Moss has been in the swords-and-sandals flick Pompeii as well as the based-on-a-true-story drama Brain on Fire.

Like a few of her Matrix co-stars, Carrie-Anne Moss has also found herself in the realm of superheroes with her role as Jeri Hogarth on Netflix’s recently cancelled Marvel series, primarily Jessica Jones, which will air its final season later this year. Next up for Carrie-Anne Moss is the Norwegian limited series crime drama Wisting.

Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus)

Laurence Fishburne had a long a career prior to his role as the enigmatic Morpheus in The Matrix and in the two decades since he gave us a choice between red and blue pills, the actor has been cast in a diverse array of projects across film and television.

In just the twenty years since The Matrix blew people’s minds, Laurence Fishburne has worked with a who’s who of Hollywood directors including Clint Eastwood, J.J. Abrams, Steven Soderbergh and Richard Linklater in Mystic River, Mission: Impossible III, Contagion and Last Flag Flying respectively. He has also remained a genre favorite, showing up in both the DC and Marvel comic book movie universes, in the former as Perry White in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and in the latter just last year as Bill Foster in Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Laurence Fishburne has also had long stints on TV in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Hannibal and black-ish. The man they call Morpheus has a big 2019 lined up for him too. He will again work with Richard Linklater in Where’d You Go, Bernadette and he reunites with Keanu Reeves for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith)

Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith was a truly diabolical entity with utter contempt for the human race. He wound up becoming the primary antagonist throughout The Matrix trilogy and the fact that it still might not be his best-known role says a lot about the career Hugo Weaving has had. There are few, if any, actors known more for their memorable roles in genre films than Hugo Weaving, who has played both detestable villains and heroic freedom fighters.

After the original Matrix, Hugo Weaving appeared as Elrond in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and went on to reprise that role in The Hobbit films. Hugo Weaving voiced Megatron in the Transformers franchise, played V in V for Vendetta and was Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger. He also reunited with the Wachowskis for Cloud Atlas. Most recently, Hugo Weaving starred as the villainous Valentine in Mortal Engines.

His talents aren’t strictly for science fiction and fantasy fare either. The prolific actor also starred in The Dressmaker in 2015 and in Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge in 2017. Hugo Weaving has shown up on the small screen too, just last year opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in the miniseries Patrick Melrose.

Joe Pantoliano (Cypher)

In The Matrix, Joe Pantoliano played the weasely Cypher who betrayed his friends and crewmates to Agent Smith, desiring to return to the blissful ignorance of the Matrix to be “someone important, like an actor.” That didn’t work out for Cypher but Joe Pantoliano has certainly had a prolific career as an actor since 1999.

Some of the highlights of Joe Pantoliano’s post-Matrix career, which includes parts in both film and television are Memento in 2000, along with his Matrix co-star Carrie-Anne Moss, and his role as Ralph Cifaretto on HBO’s The Sopranos. Joe Pantoliano also reunited with his Matrix directors the Wachowskis for a role in the Netflix series Sense8. On the horizon, Joe Pantoliano is reprising his role as Captain Howard for the action-comedy threequel Bad Boys for Life.

Matt Doran (Mouse)

In The Matrix, actor Matt Doran played the heroic and hilarious Mouse, designer of the woman in the red dress and philosopher about machine taste buds. After The Matrix, Matt Doran had a small role in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones as death stick dealer hilariously named Elan Sleazebaggano on Coruscant.

In 2013 Matt Doran starred with Dolph Lundgren in Battle of the Damned and he also had a role in 2017’s Ashley Judd film Trafficked. His next onscreen appearances will be opposite Vikings’ Travis Fimmel in Danger Close and in the thriller Intersection.

Belinda McClory (Switch)

Belinda McClory’s Switch stood out from the rest of the Nebuchadnezzar crew who had dark hair and donned all black with her bleached blond locks and all white attire. Her “Not Like This” death is now immortalized in memes and the actress herself has racked up plenty of film and television credits in the twenty years since that blockbuster.

The Australian actress starred with Ben Mendelsohn in the comedy-drama Mullet in 2001 and opposite Joel Edgertonin 2008’s Acolytes. Belinda McClory also starred in four seasons of the Australian television series The Doctor Blake Mysteries, which U.S. audiences can find on Netflix. She next returns to the sci-fi genre for The Wheel, which is scheduled for release this year.

Julian Arahanga (Apoc)

Julian Arahanga’s Apoc was probably the member of the Nebuchadnezzar crew that got the least to do in The Matrix, mostly standing in the background as a quiet badass and lamenting the “bowl of snot” they were forced to eat. Julian Arahanga hasn’t done much acting since The Matrix with his most notable roles coming in his father’s film Fracture in 2004 and The Ferryman in 2007, in addition to several short film appearances.

Julian Arahanga has mostly moved behind the camera through his AWA Films company in his native New Zealand. He has directed 21 episodes of his documentary series Songs from the Inside about musicians teaching inmates songwriting, as well as the doc Beyond the Battalion. Next up he executive produces his wife Becs Arahanga’s short Hinekura.

Marcus Chong (Tank)

Marcus Chong played Tank, a homegrown child of Zion in The Matrix. Tank was the ship’s operator who first helped Neo to learn Kung Fu. Despite his character surviving the first film, he did not return for the sequels and was replaced by Harold Perrineau’s Link.

In the time since The Matrix, Marcus Chong has mostly had one-off roles on TV series like Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Numb3rs and Burn Notice. He also starred opposite Tara Reid, Danny Trejo and David Boreanaz in The Crow: Wicked Prayer. Marcus Chong’s most recent film credits are a pair of short films in 2013.

Anthony Ray Parker (Dozer)

Like his brother Tank, Dozer was born in Zion, not grown. The pilot appeared to be a warm comforting presence on the Nebuchadnezzar brought to life through actor Anthony Ray Parker’s performance. Cypher’s betrayal and murder of Dozer meant that Anthony Ray Parker didn’t show up in The Matrix Reloaded or The Matrix Revolutions, but his career continued outside of the Matrix.

Anthony Ray Parker has lent his voice to multiple Power Rangers series and has also appeared on TV in the series The Resolve and Starz’s ambitious and underrated Spartacus. On the movie front, Anthony Ray Parker had a role in John Cena’s feature film debut The Marine in 2006. More recently, he was in the fantasy thriller Muse in 2017 and opposite Eric Roberts in 2018’s Lone Star Deception. Next up he’s got the horror film Hoax and the sci-fi flick Ara.

It’s been twenty years but many of the stars of The Matrix are still kicking ass and entertaining audiences on TV and in the theater, long after they taught us that there is no spoon. As the science fiction classic celebrates its twentieth anniversary, the cast should look back with pride, knowing that they were a part of a film that stands an important moment in cinematic history.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all your movie news and check out our 2019 release schedule to see the movies you can look forward to this year.

Despite being released back in April, moviegoers and Marvel fans haven't stopped discussing every frame from Avengers: Infinity War. The Russo Brothers did the impossible, servicing a massive cast of characters, and keeping the audience on their toes through plot twists. In fact, the directors even did a deep dive by bringing back Captain America: The First Avenger villain Red Skull.

The inclusion of Red Skull is something nobody saw coming, and his appearance also brought another revelation: actor Hugo Weaving didn't return to the role. Instead, The Walking Dead actor Ross Marquand played the villain. Fans have been wondering what happened to Weaving, and now we've seemingly got the answer: he was asked to return, but did not.

This revelation comes to us from Slash Film's Peter Sciretta, who was in the audience for a Q & A with The Russo Brothers after a recent screening of Avengers: Infinity War. It was during this talk that The Russo Brothers revealed Hugo Weaving was offered Red Skull's role in the blockbuster. They didn't go into details about the negotiations or what went wrong, but the final result shows that Weaving ultimately didn't return to the MCU during the film's Soul Stone sequence.

Red Skull's appearance and the Soul Stone scene actually ended up being one of the most heartbreaking moments from Avengers: Infinity War, and really helped to flesh out the character of Josh Brolin's Thanos. He and Gamora travel to Vormir so that he can collect the stones for his finger snap of death, which is where they meet the Stone's protector, Red Skull.

Ultimately Thanos must sacrifice a part of his soul in order to acquire the stone. While Gamora maintains he's lost since there is nothing the Mad Titan loves, his insidious intentions become clear. Thanos kills Gamora to acquire the stone, and becomes one step closer to "saving" the galaxy through his finger snap of death.

Gamora's death isn't something anyone anticipated, especially with Marvel's plans for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. But now that James Gunn has been fired and the franchise is on indefinite hold, does that mean Gamora is dead for good? And could Red Skull appear once more in Avengers 4?

All will be revealed when Avengers 4 arrives in theaters to end Phase Three on May 3rd, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been going strong for a decade, so cinephiles have seen plenty of heroes and villains clash throughout its long run in the theaters. But each iconic franchise started somewhere, and for Chris Evans' Captain America, it was 2008's The First Avenger. Steve Rogers jumped on the scene in a period piece where he battled Hugo Weaving's villainous Red Skull-- a character who has recently returned to the MCU's narrative. New concept art for the character recently hit the internet, and it shows a far more stylized and over the top look for Cap's first foe. Check it out below.

Yeah, this is awesome. While Red Skull's appearance in Captain America: The First Avenger was still iconic in its own right, this costume would have given Hugo Weaving's character an even more comic book inspired look. Ultimately the movie went for something more subtle, a move that can be debated by cinephiles and comic book fans alike.

This new image comes to us from artist Charlie Wen, who revealed how he originally created a bit more dramatic look for Red Skull. The MCU has been known to simplify its heroes and villain's looks, in order to make them a bit more believable in the modern world. You can look at Anthony Mackie's Falcon or Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch to see how the studio often tones things down. And Red Skull was certainly no exception.

Ultimately Red Skull's toned down costume helped make the reveal of his appearance surprising. Because when Steve Rogers finally landed the first punch against Schmidt, his mask was quickly taken off, revealing the character's true face. You can check it out the iconic sequence below, complete with Red Skull's more understated costume.

Ultimately Red Skull did get to return, and wear a far more dramatic new costume. He unexpectedly popped up in Avengers: Infinity War, guarding the Soul Stone as punishment for attempting to acquire the tesseract during The First Avenger. While he was recast in the role, it was awesome to see one of the Marvel's first villains return in the giant ensemble project. And with Avengers 4 still a mystery, we'll have to see if Red Skull comes back once more to complete Phase Three.

All will be revealed when Avengers 4 arrived in theaters on May 3rd, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Massive spoilers ahead for Avengers: Infinity War! Do not read on if you haven't seen the movie

After 10 years and 18 movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe came to an epic head with The Russo Brothers' Avengers: Infinity War. The epic blockbuster brought together just about every character in the shared universe in the battle against Thanos and his Black Order. While there were a ton of MCU favorites for the Brothers to juggle, the two time Captain America directors even managed to throw in a few surprises. Perhaps the biggest was the villain Red Skull, who was Cap's nemesis way back in Captain America: The First Avenger. Red Skull's return was an exciting and heartbreaking moment in Infinity War, but fans may have noticed that actor Hugo Weaving was no longer playing the character.

Avengers: Infinity War united all of the MCU's biggest heroes, and therefore brought together its massive ensemble cast of A-listers. Sometimes this was done by using body doubles, but Hugo Weaving is the one actor who seems to have turned down a role in the blockbuster. While no official reason has been released, Weaving didn't seem super happy with his short tenure in the MCU. Instead, The Russo Brothers actually brought Walking Dead actor Ross Marquand (aka Aaron) into the movie to play Red Skull.

While not a huge name, bringing Ross Marquand onto Infinity War as Red Skull is a pretty inspired choice by The Russo Brothers. Aside from his role on AMC's apocalyptic drama, Marquand has recently gone viral for his spot on celebrity impressions. Since he's able to jump into other actors' voices so easily, it would make sense that he's been chosen to play Hugo Weaving's MCU character. And given the extensive makeup that goes into the character's red skin and scarring, casual movie fans likely went through Red Skull's scenes without realizing a change of actor was made.

Hugo Weaving not returning for Infinity War should't come as a surprise, as he's already expressed disinterest in reprising his role. In an interview with Collider 2012, Weaving said:

While Hugo Weaving could have been contractually obligated to film a role in Avengers: Infinity War, it seems the Russo Brothers decided against this. After all, what type of performance could they get from an actor who literally doesn't want to be there?

Red Skull surprisingly appeared at the end of Infinity War's second act, when Thanos was attempting to acquire the Soul Stone. Red Skull was revealed to be the keeper of the stone, explaining his mysterious disappearance in The First Avenger. It was a relatively small feature, but was one of the bigger surprises in the film's runtime.

Avengers: Infinity War is in theaters now. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Sixteen years ago, Peter Jackson and his perfect cast of actors teamed together to make The Lord of The Rings into a fantastic vision of literary fantasy that fed the eyes as it did the mind. Noted character actor Hugo Weaving was one of those cast members who made the films so memorable, with his portrayal of the Elven leader Elrond standing out in its limited screen time. Well the Weaving / Jackson magic is coming back, as the Jackson produced adaptation of the YA novel series, Mortal Engines, has just hired Weaving to join its cast.

Hugo Weaving has definitely been signed on for a role in the big screen version of Phillip Reeves' printed franchise, though no specific role has been mentioned in the process, per Variety. Weaving joins producers Philippa Boyes and Fran Walsh as returning Lord of the Rings collaborators, as well as a handful of actors that have already been cast in the film, which includes Don't Breathe's Stephen Lang. The series focuses on an Earth a millennium into the future, where floating cities are the primary residence of the human race.

This project marks the first time that Peter Jackson and Hugo Weaving have teamed up since The Hobbit trilogy, which ran from between 2012 and 2014. While that's not a long time for the collaborators to have been apart, it does say something about the intentions for Mortal Engines. Outside of the canon of J.R.R. Tolkien, Jackson has had a hard time making his next gigantic hit, what with King Kong and The Lovely Bones not having the impact that was anticipated. So obviously, Peter Jackson's re-teaming up with Hugo Weaving is meant not only to instill confidence in those who are investing in the project, but also to put Jackson closer to the path of success.

Meanwhile, Hugo Weaving's last performance onscreen was in the Academy Award nominated film, Hacksaw Ridge, which saw Weaving playing opposite Andrew Garfield as Tom Doss, father to Garfield's Desmond. In addition to his duties on Mortal Engines, Weaving has two films that are due to be out in the next year or so: Jasper Jones and Black 47. So by the time we see him in action under the pen and producing skills of Peter Jackson, he should be warmed up and ready to bring more of the magic that made their previous collaborations so special.

Mortal Engines is planning to rev its engines in theaters on December 14, 2018. Keep it tune to us here at CinemaBlend, as we'll provide updates on this project as soon as we have any new information.

It's no secret that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had trouble delivering captivating villains to its audience on the big screen (television, on the other hand, has done remarkably well), but occasionally the franchise delivers a few winners. For instance, the Red Skull. He may not be at Loki's level, but it was entertaining to watch him lead HYDRA and act as Steve Rogers' scarlet visaged foil in 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger. Since that movie's release, many fans have debated about whether we'll see Red Skull return to the MCU. While Hugo Weaving recently looked back fondly at his time as Johann Schmidt, he hasn't heard anything about Marvel wanting him to reprise the villain. If it were up to us, though, we would bring him back to this world for another round, specifically in Avengers: Infinity War.

Let's look at where we left off with the Red Skull at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger. He was fighting Steve Rogers aboard his aircraft carrying several nukes, and during their scuffle, the Tesseract was freed from its containment device. Not thinking, the HYDRA head grabbed the cube himself, which resulted in him being disintegrated and launched through a strong portal out into the cosmos. It looked like a straightforward death at first, right? Maybe, but let's also not forget that one of the common superhero story tropes in the comics is that death is rarely permanent. Granted, these live action franchises can't fall back on that trope nearly as often, but Red Skull can be one of the exceptions.

It isn't like the Red Skull was shot in the head or caught in a gigantic explosion. The Tesseract broke down his body, and while many automatically assumed that he died, it's possible that he was actually transported to another area of the universe. Of course, that did happen over 70 years ago with the MCU's timeline, so how is he still alive? Well, maybe he didn't come out the other end as a human, and he's been trapped in this energy form for decades. Somehow when Thanos gets ahold of the Tesseract, a.k.a. the Space Stone, in Avengers: Infinity War, maybe he's able to trigger (whether it's deliberate or unintentional) Red Skull returning to normal and finally being transported to Earth all these years later.

On the other hand, let's assume that touching the Tesseract did kill the Red Skull. That doesn't mean he can't be brought back. There's still a lot we don't know about the Infinity Stones in the MCU, but if the Soul Stone is anything like its comic book counterpart, then it's capable of manipulating both living and dead souls. Perhaps this could be expanded to resurrecting the dead. Thanos is mighty, there's no doubt about that, but right now (as far as we know), he lacks an army. It was reported last year that there will be other villains in Infinity War besides the Mad Titan, so why not bring back a few deceased Marvel bad guys, Red Skull included? That would be a great way to screw around with the heroes' heads.

Whether Red Skull is reformed by the Tesseract or is brought back from the dead, it would be a waste not to bring the antagonist back in Avengers: Infinity War and remind moviegoers how formidable he is. It made sense why he wasn't included in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, but he's also one of the most evil figures the Marvel universe has ever known. If any long-gone MCU villain deserves another chance to shine, it's him. It doesn't even have to be Hugo Weaving reprising him, although that would be the preferable option. Red Skull has changed bodies enough times in the comics that the MCU could get away with casting another actor, as long as he can pull off the villain's sinister personality and scarlet visage.

Would you like to see Red Skull return for Avengers: Infinity War? If so, how specifically should he be involved? Let us know in the comments below.

When Steve Roger was injected with the Super Soldier Serum and became Captain America, he soon found himself with an an arch-nemesis: the Red Skull. In 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, the scarlet-visaged antagonist was played by Hugo Weaving, his first comic book-related role since 2006's V for Vendetta. While Weaving has given no indication that he'll be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he did enjoy playing Red Skull thanks to how over-the-top the villain's demeanor and appearance was.

While plugging his latest movie, The Dressmaker, with Yahoo, Hugo Weaving reminisced about some of his more notable projects, and when he reached Captain America: The First Avenger, he looked back fondly about appreciating the character's personality and look. He said:

Ever since he was introduced to the comics in 1941, the Red Skull has always had one of those outrageous, tyrannical personalities, and fortunately, Hugo Weaving captured that without delving too deep into mustache-twirling territory. As for the physical look, it was always going to be difficult making Red Skull not too cartoonish, but the end result looked good...not that we would want to wear that ourselves for a long stretch of time. While you occasionally hear stories about actors not enjoying their time working on a superhero movie, it's good to hear that Weaving walked away enjoying the experience.

The last time we saw Hugo Weaving's Red Skull, he grabbed the Tesseract directly with his hand to try to control it, but this just resulted in him being disintegrated and transported through a universal portal. At first, this looked like a cut-and-dry death, but the MCU is a franchise based off a comic book world, and death is rarely permanent there. As the Yahoo article pointed out, the Tesseract, a.k.a. the Space Stone, will be brought back into play in Avengers: Infinity War, so there's a chance Red Skull could somehow be resurrected or returned to human form after Thanos gets his hands on the Infinity Stones. However, Weaving hasn't heard anything about a return, so there's no guarantee of Red Skull getting a second chance at antagonizing on the big screen.

Would you like to see Hugo Weaving reprise The Red Skull or is this a character better left behind? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

It has been quite a long time since Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith was one of Hollywood’s most frightening villains in 1999’s The Matrix. Sure, he appeared in both lackluster sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, but Smith wasn’t nearly as effective in a cinematic world that ceased bearing any resemblance to our own.

But not everybody can be solely concerned with putting people in the hospital all the time; sometimes they also need to worry about the medical care that goes into these hospitals, as General Electric shows us in their new commercial for “Agent of Good: Connected Hospitals.” Essentially, GE is showing us that they’re finally making their hospitals more effective by coordinating their electronics to all work together, which is something that a layperson might have already assumed about one of the largest corporations on the planet. And they chose to show off this new technology by relating it to one of the most anti-humanity villains ever to grace cinema screens. Are we supposed to be looking for conspiratorial undertones here, or just enjoying the pop culture references for what they are?

And honestly, it’s a wildly well-crafted ad, taking advantage of multiple Smiths in almost every frame, and Weaving’s no-bullshit tone lays out GE’s improvements in understandable, though understated. ways. As a plus, the clip was directed by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express), so while it doesn’t necessarily have the visual flair of the Wachowskis, it isn’t far off.

GE is no stranger to celebrity cameos, as they brought in Knight Rider’s KITT and KITT’s voice William Daniels in last year’s ad for their locomotive, which you can see below.

It would seem that Australia seems to be really into the idea of bringing talented filmmakers together to make omnibuses. Earlier this year producer John Polson brought together directors Toni Collette, Russell Crowe, Anthony LaPaglia, Alex Proyas, Liev Schreiber and more to helm Sydney Unplugged, a love letter to the country's capital city, and now a new one in the works with a whopping 17 directors involved. And it's just found two brand new stars as well.

Hugo Weaving, who just recently graced screens in the Wachowski Starship/Tom Tykwer movie Cloud Atlas, and Rose Byne - both Australian born - have both signed on for parts in The Turning, according to THR. The film will tell an incredible 17 short stories, all of which were written by Aussie writer Tim Winton. Actors including Cate Blanchett, Mia Wasikowska and David Wenham will be making their directorial debuts with the project, and they will be joined by filmmakers such as Benedict Andrews, Jonathan auf der Heide, Tony Ayres, Claire McCarthy and Stephen Page.

In addition to Byrne and Weaving the cast includes Callan Mulvey, Susie Porter and Harrison Gilbertson. The trade doesn't mention any of the characters that the actors will be playing, but all of the shorts will be set in the Australian coastal town of Angelus and will be about a person experiencing a turning point in their life.

Bryrne has two comedies in the mix next year, including Dan Mazer's I Give It A Year and Shawn Levy's The Internship, and Weaving will next be seen in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

It’s a strange pattern, but where there’s a big budget, highly ambitious project in the works there’s a very good chance that Hugo Weaving will be involved. It began in 1999 when the Australian actor first teamed up with the Andy and Lana Wachowski to play the villainous Agent Smith in revolutionary science-fiction modern classic The Matrix, but even since then he’s found himself playing in movies like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Captain America: The First Avenger (which qualifies due to its part in the Marvel Cinematic Universe), and, most recently, in the soon to be released Cloud Atlas. Is he a conscious decision to star in films that could potentially change the industry? Does he actively seek out parts in the boldest projects he can find? I recently had the chance to find out the answers.

During a recent press day for Cloud Atlas, which reunites the actor with the Wachowski Starship for the first time since V For Vendetta, I had the amazing opportunity to sit down with the exceedingly talented performer to talk not only about his latest movie, but also the path of his career and the choices he has made. Check out the interview below, in which Weaving discusses his appearance-motivated performances, working with director Tom Tykwer in conjunction with the Wachowskis, and the film’s “yellowface” controversy.

NOTE: At one point in the interview Weaving did go into spoiler territory, and while what he says won’t ruin the movie for you, it might be best to come back to once you’ve already seen the film. Be careful scrolling!

I’m curious about how ambition enters in to the equation when you’re selecting scripts, because not only do you have this film – which is a major undertaking in its own right – The Matrix movies, the Lord of the Rings trilogy and even the Marvel Cinematic Universe are some of the biggest, most ambitious projects we’ve seen in the last 20 years. Is that something that plays a part in your mind?

I would certainly agree that The Matrix and this film were very ambitious projects in some ways, and The Lord of the Rings is a very ambitious project in a totally different sort of way – but then the majority of the work that I do is actually ambitious in other ways, and it’s much more low budget, small, Australian contemporary films, to be honest, and that would be the bulk of my work. Or theater! My ambition would be to stretch myself in all sorts of different ways and work with wonderful people and work with wonderful scripts, actually. The script is always the thing that’s the key for me, and that’s the thing that, hopefully, if someone’s got a script it means that they’re interested in the material, they’re interested in the ideas that are in that script, so if they’re interested in that and I’m interested in that hopefully that means we have a similar interest- and that might mean it would be good to work with them. So I’ve always taken the script as being the first place for working, the ideas are embedded in that, and certainly this film is chock-a-block full of ideas, from this wonderful book that I had loved so much anyways. So it was something that was very kind of exciting to me, the idea of it.

I have to imagine that reuniting with the Wachowskis as directors must have played a role as well.

Absolutely. We kept seeing each other over the years, either with The Matrix or V For Vendetta or this and in between times, but we kept chatting. It’s always lovely to see them. I feel very, very close to both of them, and the addition of Tom [Tykwer] on this one has been great.

I was actually just about to ask about that. How did working with Tom Tykwer in the mix change the dynamic on set, or did it?

It totally affected the dynamic of this film. Totally affected it in a wonderful way. This project came out of the fact that Tom and Lana and Andy met, and they met because they liked each other’s’ films and wanted to meet – which is a good way of meeting. They met, they talked, they loved talking to each other; they met again, they became friends, they shared similar ideas and are all highly intelligent men and women who have a shared bond. And they’re very generous, very warm. So the idea of working together came out of that. And if we are going to work together what is that project to be? So what I think Tom has brought to them is like he holds a mirror up to them in the way that Lana and Andy held a mirror up to each other and projected each other and reflected each other on to themselves. So the sense that you might have a triumvirate directing a film is a great one. But only if that triumvirate actually works together and gets on and in this case they do and the project would never have happened if they hadn’t gotten on. So if you have a studio and said, “Let’s get these three directors together and we’ll give them this script” it might not work so well. So the genesis of this project has come out of people who are interested in the material and people who are interested in working together. And so all the actors are interested in the material, all of the ideas incorporated around that, and the idea of working with either Tom or Lana or Andy. So I think he’s brought so much to them and he’s brought so much to the life of the project and the first day we had the read through he played his music, and that kind of underpinned that score – the Cloud Atlas Sextet – he scored the whole thing for us.

Obviously I don’t want to ignore the other great work you’ve done, but I’ve also noticed a pattern in your career where you take parts that not only change your physical appearance, but also play characters that are partially defined by their appearance. You have the multiple characters in this different looks, but even Agent Smith takes something as simple as a suit and sunglasses and makes them iconic. How does the appearance of a character, like Nurse Noakes or Old Georgie in this movie, change your approach?

Well, your body, what happens to your body, is a product of the way you think and the way you are and what you do in your life – we get older and we get saggier and wrinklier and we get more weighed down, or we get older and we have more of a thirst for life. So the way you think and what you do defines your body. So any physicality of any character is based on who they are and what they’ve done and where they’ve been and why they are the way they are. So as long as that physicalization springs from something that is truthful for that character, then that’s worth chasing and finding. Smith is a construct, he’s not a robot, but he’s not a human. He’s a construct, so he has a certain bearing, a certain gate, a certain vocal delivery, because I figured well, if he’s not a human and he’s not a robot what would he be like? He’s probably sound like a news reader and he’d have a particular kind of enunciated delivery. So any physicalization or vocalization of any kind in a character comes from what’s written there and what’s suggested by the character as written.

To talk a bit about your evolution in the film, I actually think that you have the most fascinating path in the movie. Unlike some of your co-stars who get to play on both good and evil characters, throughout this you are always playing someone on the wrong side of right, and what that leads to is Old Georgie, who is not a person but rather more like a manifestation of evil. How do you wrap your mind around that progression?

It was always a character that I loved – I loved reading a lot of the characters from the book, but Georgie jumped out at me, and he jumps out of you because he’s inside Zachry’s head and you’re with Zachry and you know what’s happened to Zachry. Zachry’s in a world where he believes in the devil. It’s a futuristic world, but it’s also a medieval world with medieval sensibilities, and so people are prey to the voices in their head. We’re all prey to voices in our head! And this idea that Georgie is just this embodiment of the voice that says “no,” the voice that tells you that you must do this, you can’t do that. That happens to me all the time! So the challenge of playing Georgie was this wonderful thing. Yes, he’s a character, but actually he’s not – he’s not a human being. So then how do you shoot that? When I was trying on the costume I thought, “Well, this costume is great,” but I kept saying, “I really love this costume, but the more I think about Georgie the more I think you don’t want to see him, in a way.” You don’t want to notice that he’s got a shiny suit – you don’t want to think about that. It shouldn’t be shiny or it shouldn’t have this or…it should be more amorphous.

So I was talking to Lana and Andy about that we thought, well, he can’t come into frame, and you can’t see him leave frame because then he’s exiting to somewhere else and therefore he’s physical. So he can be found. He can not be there anymore. He can’t disappear, he can not be there. He can then appear somewhere else – when you cut he’s there, he’s over the shoulder. It’s the vocal intention that’s important; it’s what he’s saying that’s important. He is just Zachry talking to himself. It’s just Zachry’s fears and preconceptions. Zachry’s brain and upbringing is telling him, “I can’t do this, I can’t do that. But I want to do this.” He’s conflicted. Zachry’s got Meronym, who is here and has all this stuff and he mistrusts her, and thinks she might be bringing about the downfall of his civilization. He’d rather have these cannibals, these nasty warriors on horseback to deal with because he knows them, rather than this mysterious woman who he doesn’t know and doesn’t understand. And the threat that she poses because he doesn’t understand her is the thing that has him saying, “I have to kill her” – and that’s Georgie. “Stay how you are. Don’t change.” So he’s the voice of absolutely “Don’t change. Don’t be free.”

SPOILER ALERT

You mentioned that you had input on Georgie’s look; was it the same situation for your other characters as well?

Georgie’s look was pretty much there, it was just to do with the shininess. So it became flatter, and it was to do with not the perfect top hat, but the battered one, the more amorphous one. And the way that he appeared on screen. So it was all of that, and it was a good for everyone. And that brought about things with the way they might film Bill Smoke as well. All of the characters have a link, so there’s the soul’s link that may be in the way that they’re shot or how they might appear. When Bill Smoke appears and kills Sixsmith he appears in the back of frame dropping down and then he’s not there anymore. And then Sixsmith turns and there’s no one there behind the thing. And then Sixsmith…and then BANG! So that’s like Georgie – the way that Tom shot that echoed Georgie. It sort of echoes all the way through.

END OF SPOILERS

I do also want to ask: some people have found Cloud Atlas to be controversial in that it has white actors portraying Asian characters. Basically, claims of ‘yellowface.” There have been some people that have attacked the film for that aspect and I’m curious what you make of it.

Again, it’s not just a silly, flashy idea – it springs out of this very central, simple idea in the material, in the book: whatever the wrapping you have around you, whether it be European, Asian, male, female, whatever age you are, whatever time you live in, there’s an essential humanity that lies underneath all of that. And having actors play… I’m playing a Korean, my character. Doona [Bae], who is Korean, plays a Mexican. So it’s not just “yellowface.” Keith David is playing cross cultural. I’m playing a woman. Halle [Berry] is playing a Jewish woman. This wasn’t happening…it wasn’t one way traffic, it was traffic going all over the place. You have more of an argument for saying, “Hey, there’s all these roles that are being stolen from other actors! What’s going on here?” If you stick to the way the world should be then things don’t change. So everything in this film, the structure of it, the way in which it cast, the way it’s being brought about, and the way which we did it and the way in which we jumped into it with that spirit is because that is fundamental to the ideas of the material, and it’s not some kind of flashy game that’s just being thought up to make money. On the contrary, it’s absolutely not that. So any argument about that is quite easily countered, really. I just don’t buy it. I think it’s silly nonsense.

Because I’m just a huge nerd, I do really want to ask about the future of Red Skull in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Do you know where the Cosmic Cube sent him at the end of the Captain America movie? Also, do you have the same kind of multi-picture contract that the other actors do?

I think, yeah. I think anyone who signs up for Marvel probably would be obliged to sign a certain deal for three or four pictures or whatever, or more, actually, in some of those cases. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to come to fruition. There hasn’t been a Captain America 2 yet, and anyway if there was you would probably introduce another villain. So I didn’t think I’d be in another Cap America movie. The only thing – the possibility you might want to bring Red Skull back into an Avengers thing. That’s also tied in.

But to be honest, I don’t know that I’d want to go back there. I had a good time and it was a good thing to do. I was really thrilled that I did it. I loved working with Joe [Johnston] again, it was great to meet a lot of those actors…it was kind of a different experience for me being in that world, to play…and he’s a villain. I don’t describe many characters like that, but this is like an uber-villain. This guy thinks Hitler’s a pussy [laughs]. He’s a villain. So that’s why I did it, I was like “Let’s try this.” To play a role like that, that’s fun.

And what happens to him at the end of the film…I always said that the interesting thing about Red Skull for me was not the bombing of America. He’s not interested in that! He’s interested in the cube – he’s interested in the cosmic cube. He’s interested in being one with the gods. He wants to be up there and he’s saying to Cap, [in German accent] “Come on! You’re pretty cool! Come on, man! We’re better than this! We can go up here!” So that’s what interested me. He’d probably be in Valhalla – that’s where he wants to be. But who knows!

Hugo Weaving's been busy recently doing interviews for Cloud Atlas, but of course, it's hard for an actor who's appeared in so many popular franchises not to wind up talking about one of those roles as well. And though you probably remember him best as Agent Smith in The Matrix, Elrond in The Lord of the Rings or Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger, he also lent his voice to Megatron in the Transformers films-- and that's the role that's now got him in trouble with one of his previous directors.

After Weaving called his work as Megatron "meaningless," pointing out to Collider that he never met Michael Bay and that he never read the script, Bay struck back in his inimitable, vaguely childish way. On his own website Bay doesn't actually name Weaving-- and for some reason cites The Hollywood Reporter in this fracas-- but it's pretty clear who he's talking about. You can read his mini-rant below:

On some level, sure, Michael Bay is right-- actors have pretty cushy jobs, and any complaining they do ought to be taken with a massive grain of salt and recognition that they're doing OK. But that's not really what Weaving was doing here. He was stating some basic facts about a voiceover job that didn't challenge him that much and wasn't that meaningful-- and realizing he never met the director, you can't really blame him for feeling that way. Weaving isn't saying he did a bad job, or that he's not grateful for the paycheck, or even that the movies are bad. He's just admitting he wasn't especially engaged with it. Have any of us really not felt that way about our jobs at some point?

Even though Hugo Weaving has been in some of the biggest movies of all time, he's still a working actor who needs to take jobs-- and I"m not going to begrudge him taking one gig in a huge movie that he didn't care about 100%. Michael Bay may be the "wronged" director in this situation, but it's pretty hard to imagine taking his side.

There are hundreds of questions that Marvel fans are still asking about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but few are as big as, “What happened to Red Skull at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger?” For those that don’t remember, the disfigured German supervillain touched the Cosmic Cube at the end of the movie and it appeared that he was transported to another world. Obviously Marvel Studios wants to keep a lid on the truth until exactly when they want you to know, but that doesn’t mean that the star who played the character, Hugo Weaving, doesn’t have a theory of his own.

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of attending a press event for the upcoming Wachowski Starship/Tom Tykwer film Cloud Atlas, and while sitting down for a one-on-one interview with Weaving I took the opportunity to ask him what he thought happened to Red Skull. He began his explanation by saying that what he most interesting about the character was that it wasn’t just about world domination for him, but instead a quest to control the power of the Cosmic Cube and be among the gods. Said Weaving, “He wants to be up there and he’s saying to Cap, [in German accent] ‘Come on! You’re pretty cool! Come on, man! We’re better than this! We can go up here!’ So that’s what interested me.” This led to his theory about Red Skull’s final destination. “He’d probably be in Valhalla – that’s where he wants to be. But who knows!”

By having Red Skull teleported away at the end of Captain America instead of being killed, however, Marvel Studios was sending a clear message: Red Skull will be coming back at some point (not that comics have ever had trouble resurrecting characters from the dead, but the point stands). Some have guessed that he’ll be back for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but others think that he’ll be saved for The Avengers 2. During my interview I asked Weaving what his contract situation was like with Marvel, as most actors in those films have multi-picture deals set up to keep them locked up for future movies.

“I think anyone who signs up for Marvel probably would be obliged to sign a certain deal for three or four pictures or whatever, or more, actually, in some of those cases,” Weaving said. “But that doesn’t mean it’s going to come to fruition.” Postulating about where Red Skull will show up next, he continued, saying, “There hasn’t been a Captain America 2 yet, and anyway if there was you would probably introduce another villain. So I don’t think I’d be in another Cap America movie. The only thing – the possibility you might want to bring Red Skull back into an Avengers thing. That’s also tied in."

But Weaving also added something that fans won’t be too happy to hear. “To be honest, I don’t know that I’d want to go back there,” he told me. While he didn’t fully explain why he felt this way, he had nothing but the nicest things to say about working on Captain America: The First Avenger and portraying the character.

Stay tuned here on Cinema Blend to read my full interview with Hugo Weaving, which will be posted next week when Cloud Atlas heads into theaters.

Thanks to his performances in the Matrix movies and Captain America: The First Avenger we've grown to primarily identify Hugo Weaving as a villain. While this would be a terrible thing for most actors - who wants to be pigeonholed? - but in the case of Weaving it's hard to feel bad as he does it so damn well. Case in point we're ecstatic that he's now set to play another insidious character in the Australian thriller Mystery Road.

Written and directed by Ivan Sen, the new project is about an indigenous detective who travels back to his hometown in the outback where the murder of a young girl has taken place. Deadline, which reported the Weaving casting, says that Aaron Pedersen has already been cast in the lead role; Ryan Kwanten, best known for playing Jason Stackhouse on the HBO series True Blood, is playing a pig hunter; and Jack Thompson will play "a pastoralist who’s seen better times." Weaving's character is described as a cop who can't necessarily be trusted. Production on the film is already underway in central Queensland.

In recent years we've seen some really great stuff come out of Australia, like John Hillcoat's The Proposition and the underseen Red Hill (which, coincidentally, also featured Ryan Kwanten). Given the cast of this one, not to mention the interesting storyline, perhaps this one can join those ranks as well.

There’s been a lot of rumbling around the intertubes this week about when we’ll see an honest to goodness, full blown trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger. We’ve seen the teaser that premiered during the Superbowl, which for most of us quelled misgivings about the casting of Chris Evans, but we’re looking for more and it looks like we’ll have to wait until May for the release of Thor before we get it.

Fortunately, Marvel is a marketing machine and while we won’t see a new trailer for some time, they’ve released this brand new image showing off a shield and Thompson wielding Evans wearing boots built specifically for kicking Nazi ass. We’ve seen this all before, but as anticipation for the film quickly rises, this added still is greatly appreciated.

Like many of you, I found myself three inches away from my television a few Sundays back when the first trailer for Joe Johnston's Captain America: The First Avenger was aired during the Super Bowl. Though the trailer had many awesome moments, none were greater than the first look at the film's main villain, The Red Skull. Sadly, however, it was an extremely short shot and thanks to the angle of his head, it was hard to get a clear idea of exactly what he will look like. Now we know.

EW has premiered the first full, official shot of The Red Skull and I must say that it looks absolutely incredible. The mask looks like it has been ripped straight out of the comics, and not like some stupid Halloween mask. It actually looks like a skull. Even better, you can tell that it's Hugo Weaving under there just by looking at the eyes. While we won't know exactly how the movie will turn out until July, at least we can be sure that Captain America will have a seriously cool looking villain.

Check out the image below and to see it full size head over to EW.

When the cover of Entertainment Weekly with Chris Evans as Captain America dropped this morning, it was inevitable that more photos from the issue would quickly find their way on to the internet. That time is now.

Superhero Hype has gotten their hands on eight scans from the issue that show Evans both in and out of costume, Hayley Atwell as Cap's love Peggy Carter, Hugo Weaving as the villainous Johann Schmidt (though without the Red Skull mask) and more. The photos have some cool little details - check out the HYDRA patch on Weaving's shoulder - and the ladies will love the pic of Evans right after being given the super soldier serum.

Check out a few of the scans below and head over to Comic Book Movie to see the rest.

UPDATED: Now with a little HYDRA soldier action.

The 1990 version of Captain America is, by all accounts, a horrible movie. Made on a shoestring budget, there isn't a damn thing in the movie that works effectively. Counted amongst these sins is the films treatment of The Red Skull, one of Marvel's classic villains who was reduced to a bad German accent and a Halloween mask. It will be quite hard for Joe Johnston's upcoming adaptation, with Hugo Weaving in the role, to do any worse, but Marvel President Kevin Feige is here to raise our expectations.

Total Film recently sat down with Feige to discuss the upcoming films on Marvel's slate, and, in addition to talking about filming in the UK (most of the movie takes place in Europe, after all), he also talked about Hugo Weaving in the role of the villain, saying,

Many are going to call foul at the fact that the Red Skull is a CGI effect, but I'm choosing to hold my tongue until I see the result. In the comics, Hitler gives Johann Schmidt an actual mask to wear, and if the CGI makes it look in any way artificial it will be a detriment. That said, the further we get away from this the better.

Looking to add a little excitement to your life in mid-September? Those of you near the dreary streets of Manchester and Liverpool, England need look no further. Marvel’s staple in the Avengers saga, Captain America: The First Avenger, will find its way across the pond for two weeks in the middle of September to film some key scenes in the comic adaptation, according to BBC News. The details of the particular scenes aren't set in stone just yet but we do know there will be a car chase, and as we’ve learned from the Transformers 3 set in Chicago, that can be a pretty exciting thing to watch.

The production is traveling to those parts of England simply because the streets in the Northern Quarter of Machester, lined with tall buildings that can pass for 30 or 100-years-old, resemble that of a 1940’s New York, the era in which Captain America takes place. Sounds like this will be a great move for Manchester and Liverpool as well as being a perfect fit for the film. The area was last used to film scenes for Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes reboot, which proves is versatility. Captain America hits theaters just two months after Thor next July. I don’t know about you, but I can’t effing wait for either of them, despite my slight misgivings about Chris Evans in the lead.

Hugo Weaving has landed yet another iconic bad guy role. Rumored a few weeks ago, Marvel made it official today confirming that Weaving will play The Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger opposite Chris Evans as Captain America.

Red Skull is kind of like Captain America’s Lex Luthor or his Joker. He’s Cap’s nemesis, his supervillain. A hideously disfigured Nazi, The Red Skull faces off against America’s top hero during World War Two. Captain America: The First Avenger will focus on the hero’s early years during the fight to take down Hitler, which means you can expect to see The Red Skull wearing a lot of swastikas. Marvel’s press release says “The character will be updated for the feature adaptation,” which could mean just about anything. It seems unlikely, though, that Weaving will escape spending a lot of time in red prosthetics.

Though ever now and then Weaving puts on a pair of pointy ears and helps the good guys, he’s best known for playing unusually creepy villains. He’ll always be best remembered as Agent Smith as The Matrix but he’s also the voice of the villainous Megatron in the Transformers series. The Red Skull could prove equally memorable.

In all of the chaos that has surrounded the casting of Captain America for Joe Johnston's First Avenger: Captain America, it has been kind of easy to forget that there are other characters in the film (after all, the hero's name is in the title). But where you have a superhero, you need a supervillain, which for Cap has always been the Red Skull, the former Nazi general officer who has been doing battle with Cap since the character's introduction in 1941. The casting process for the Red Skull has been all but silent since we learned he would be the villain in February. Until now, that is.

THR reports that Mr. Smith himself, Hugo Weaving, is currently in talks for the role as the evil German combatant. Weaving most recently played Inspector Abberline in Johnston's The Wolfman, which was released last month to not-so-great results. The news source says that the results of the negotiations should come out in the next few days.

One doesn't have to look any further than The Matrix films to know that Weaving has the skills to play a more-than-formidable opponent. I can't vouch for the actor's ability to put on a German accent, but frankly, anything has to be better than this:

For every story, there is an equal and opposite retraction. You just can’t believe anything you read these days. For instance director Guillermo Del Toro told the BBC a few days ago that Hugo Weaving would reprise his role as Elrond in The Hobbit, unfortunately Guillermo forgot to tell Hugo.

Weaving spoke with Moviehole earlier today and told them, “I knew that if and when it happened I’d get a call and we’d chat about it, but I haven’t spoken to anyone about it.” So yeah maybe they should, you know, ask him if he wants the job.

If they do ask him, it’s entirely likely that he’ll take the part. Weaving clearly states that just because he hasn’t been asked doesn’t mean he won’t be doing it. In fact he seems pretty positive about the whole thing, including the LOTR franchise’s new director, who, really ought to pick up Galadriel’s mirror and give Elrond a ring.