Infinity War brought back Red Skull from 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger which blended up well with their narrative.
Red Skull was banished to Vormir in the film, which also serves as the location of the Soul Stone in Infinity War. Red Skull acts as the keeper of the Stone who reveals that anyone who needs to control the stone need to sacrifice something they love. This later prompted Thanos to toss Gamora off from a cliff.
As revealed in the commentary track of Infinity War, this was a secret desire of Captain America’s (2011) screenwriters which ended up fitting perfectly with the storyline. Screenwriter Christopher Markus revealed that cinematically Red Skull was the first one to get obsessed with these Stones in MCU and he didn’t really meet his end at the end of Captain America. The fans have often wondered about his whereabouts and somehow, he seemed to fit in this moment in Infinity War just perfectly.
Screenwriters Markus and McFeely have worked with MCU right from Captain America: The First Avenger to Inifnity War which means that they have been a part of the franchise since its earliest phase. McFeely went on to comment that there are so many bodies buried in the MCU that one can easily dig a body up and fit it in a scene.
Before the release of Infinity War, fans often wondered where the Soul Stone would be hidden as MCU had not teased any indication of its existence, prior to Infinity War. This led the creative team to come up with the Vormir and a sacrifice which was always intended to give an emotional touch to the film.
Infinity War is more about Thanos’ journey and can be seen as somewhat a film about his back story. The writers had to come up with a dark moment for someone like Thanos who bathes in darkness all the time. Now if you think about it for a second, what could possibly be dark for someone like Thanos? The situation demanded Thanos to lose the one thing he loves and well, it shouldn’t be an accident. It had to be done on purpose and if one has to kill a major character like Gamora who’s Thanos’ daughter, there’s ought to be a massive plot behind it.
One might argue that losing Gamora was bad for Avengers and the audience but McFeely cleared it out by saying that Gamora’s death marks the end of the second act of the film as she’s the only thing between Thanos and his dream to collect all the Infinity Stones.
Even the Russos stated that the scene where Red Skull informs Gamora that Thanos isn’t shedding tears for himself but her is definitely one of the most sad moments in the movie.
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