RED SKULL: STURMBANNFÜHRER
Red Skull Origin
BEN: If we had time (which we probably won't, but we might include it in a comic book tie-in) I was thinking that Skull would start out as a young man who is brought on as Hitler's assistant or is a promising young Lt. who is brought to Hitler's attention by the head of the SS. The Lt. has shown to be very intelligent, resourceful and (of course) without a conscience. Hitler puts him in the super soldier program and he survives (or is the only survivor of his super soldier unit.) Hitler then gives him the rank of Sturmbannführer and puts him in command of an SS unit, "The Red Skulls," with the mission to kill Captain America. Skull takes it too far and ends up having a red skull face shield created for himself. Okay, this is probably too dark, but what if... a bunch of his team are killed and he's covered in a pile of bodies. Standing up from beneath the viscera, he licks his fingers and feels a jolt. Putting his hand in the chest wound of one of his comrades, he sucks the blood off his hand. Power pumps through his veins and he chuckles as he drops to his knees for more... If his whole unit isn't killed, he might kill them to increase his power (a Countess Bathory sort of thing.) In this his serum is weaker than America's, but with his physiology and the discovery of the blood connection, he's as, if not more, powerful than Cap.
01-07-10 RA
It is okay for Cap to be afraid. It is human. A natural reaction to his horrific surroundings. Better yet, since he shows fear, real fear and then overcomes it, his courage and heroism are both more natural and human. Two things that allow him to persevere are his faith in God and his faith in American democracy. He is not the wisecracking hero full of quips as he guns people down. It is his strength of character that wins the day rather than his strength of arms. His heroic qualities were evident even as a young Steve Rogers. The Super Soldier Serum did not make him heroic. It certainly didn't make Red Skull heroic. And don't think about softening the religious angle. It is essential to Cap's character. Maybe he had a family member who was a pastor or deacon, someone who was very much against the war and Steve joining it. There must be opposition to everything the hero wants to do if only so that he can choose to overcome it. It is in his choosing that some sense of what could have been creates the sacrifice, the trade off, the loss that is his heroic backdrop.
RICK: Steve's father places a hand on his shoulder. "You didn't think this was how it was going to be. All your hopes and dreams and here you are with everything twisted out of shape. How did it get to be like this? You are weak. Just like they said. You can't wait around for some hero to swash buckle in and save you. You have to stand up and do it now. Stand up and stare those bullies in the eye and let them know that you are not afraid. If need be, you've got to fight Steven even if no one else stands with you. You have to fight until you win. Evil does not take a holiday and can not be bartered with."
BEN: For some reason this makes me wonder...
The cold. Just need to rest here for a minute.
Harsh arctic winds pile snow up over Cap's body. Even with the Super Soldier Serum in his veins, he can not last much longer. Temperatures have dipped to minus sixty. Finally, he passes out and everything goes black. All we hear is the bitter howl of the wind...
The howl becomes the wail of a train whistle, piercing. A light appears as if at the end of the tunnel. Cap squints to get a better look. The countryside is grey and quiet. Snow is falling in big fist-sized feathers. Some kind of gated camp is coming into view as the train engine slows. Cap sees them standing there behind the fences like ragged scarecrows, unmoving and silent. Cap jumps from the side of the train to get a better look. He crushes the chain on the gate in the grip of his bare hands and walks through. He is unopposed. Rounding a corner, Cap sees what he thinks is a young boy tugging on the boot of the fallen German soldier. The child is dressed in grey rags. The soldier is young, maybe sixteen and has a self inflicted bullet wound to the head. Cap reaches for the boy who pulls away from him and turns, holding the prize of the boot in his hands. The child is dressed in grey rags. The soldier is young, maybe sixteen and has a self inflicted bullet wound to the head. Cap reaches for the boy who pulls away from him and turns holding the prize of the boot in his hands. The boy is a malnourished, grey skinned mess with wild eyes, practically a living skeleton. Cap draws back shocked and frightened. He looks around him. The scarecrows are moving ever so slowly, perhaps drawn to his brightly colored uniform. A snowflake falls on Cap's face and as he blows it away he realizes that it is nothing but ash. The train whistle blows...
Cap's eyes pop open in horror. He shakes off the snow and prays: "Lord I will fear no evil for you are with me. Should I perish this day, I accept your judgement and ask your forgiveness of my sins... Save me Lord... [pauses] ...save us all." He struggles to his feet taking tremendous effort. He must press on. Red Skull must be made to pay for his crimes. The wind howls and tears at his body and from somewhere, Cap finds the strength to continue...
"A lot has been lost, Captain. There was a fire in one of our store houses in 1956. We have taken donations from several private collections. We happen to have three good examples on display here."
National Archives, Washington, DC
War Department
Declassified Documents
"America at War"
Correspondence from the
Front Lines to the Heartland
Momma & Poppa-
I won't lie to you about how serious things are here. People are dying left and right. I am scared all the time that I might let my buddies down. Sometimes I stop and pray that I can come home. We met a real hero last night that has given us our first taste of hope in many months. He spoke to us about liberty and the right of all people to be free of tyranny...
Rick and I conclude our sketching of a spec outline for a Cap film! -Ben
Act 3
Resolution
- Cap tosses the puppet President in jail
- VP is instated or new election is announced
- Cap reconciles with the General
- Cap addresses the American people
- The End!
12-17-09 R.A.
Film Overview
- CAP in WWII, the ORIGIN
- RED SKULL
- ICE ICE BABY
- CAP in modern era
- RED SKULL
- NEW TERRIBLE MENACE
- CAP triumphant after being defeated
RICK: Cap's origin needs to be told. This squarely sets the film with a chunk of WWII backing. How it is eventually woven into the overall plot is still up in the air.
RICK: I had this shot in my head where Cap and Red Skull are fighting on the wing on a German biplane...
Okay, this has no budget. So live a little.
BEN: Wow, now that's going back to early cinema! I think the unfortunate thing with the first Spider-Man film was that Spidey and Gobby didn't actually have many scenes together. Gobs asks Spidey to join forces? Why? Is he Darth Vader? They (sorta) try to convey that time has passed and they've had time to build a rapport, but it's pretty flimsy. Not to mention, when Spidey finally does a little trash talk, it's the climax and isn't supported in the rest of the film. Anyhow, with that in mind I'd want to have enough motivation for Skull to really hate Cap-- I mean, it has to be personal. That would likely mean that Cap has to humiliate him. Real good. Creating a real conflict between two foes is really tough in a origin film since they probably won't have too many scenes together-- you have to spend time on the hero especially since Skull didn't have anything to do with Cap's creation. Skull is Cap's right of passage. Cap defeats him in WWII, but just. And Skull makes him pay by killing Bucky. Essentially, Cap thinks that he's an adult now, but nope. He's not a man until he defeats the guilt. And Skull.
I am starting to wonder if maybe we aren't trying too hard. There was a very simple movie called Time After Time. HG Wells creates a time machine and chases Jack the Ripper through to the present day. Catch me if you can!
Isn't it humiliating enough that Red Skull is on the losing side of the War?
