Up until now, all we knew about Robert Redford’s role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier was that he was playing Alexander Pierce, a senior agent within S.H.I.E.L.D. Presumably it would be a small supporting role in what Marvel studio boss Kevin Feige said will be a “’70s political thriller masquerading as a big superhero movie.”
But if you assumed he was going to be playing one of the good guys, you might be wrong.
During an interview with The Straits Times (via Here Be Geeks), Redford clarified the role and his comments, if true, revealed a huge potential spoiler.
He said: “I like the idea of playing a villain. … I did that just because it’s a different thing for me to do.”
Currently, Cap is set to battle three villains – Crossbones (Frank Grillo), Batroc the Leaper (Georges St-Pierre) and Arnim Zola (Toby Jones) – with a present-day storyline that finds best friend Bucky turned into a brainwashed assassin. If Redford turns about to be evil, that’s a whole lotta bad guys.
Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury will appear alongside Chris Evans’ Star-Spangled Avenger, with Anthony Mackie joining the superhero team as the high-flying Falcon.
If the news about Redford is true, he could be playing Red Skull and his “supporting role” could mean he’s the main bad dude around which all the other bad dudes revolve.
Of course, nothing is confirmed until Marvel says it is. But it’s fun to speculate.
In the meantime, Marvel has released two new pieces of concept art that show the Winter Assassin which look rather cool.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens in theaters on April 4, 2014.
