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There's not a prison in the world that can hold me. I am just too cunning, too ingenious, too well-prepared for the likes of my opposition!
„
~ Albert Malik
Albert Malik, better known as the Red Skull, is a supporting antagonist in the Marvel Universe, specifically serving as a minor antagonist in the Captain America franchise and one of the three overarching antagonists (alongside Mephisto and The Burglar) of the Spider-Man franchise.
He was a communist spy who took on the Red Skull identity to form his own criminal organization. He ordered the deaths of Richard and Mary Parker, the late parents of Peter Parker, who eventually become the superhero known as Spider-Man. He was also the archenemy of William Burnside, who took on the identity of Captain America.
Albert Malik was a Soviet spy active during the latter half of the 20th century, with little known about his life until the 1950s. At that time, he was part of a Soviet spy network operating out of Algeria. In 1953, following Joseph Stalin's death, Soviet leadership aimed to solidify the people's allegiance to Lenin's communist ideals. Stalin’s successor, Georgi Malenkov, recalled Malik from his Algerian operations and transformed him into the new Red Skull, stepping into the role after the original Nazi agent had vanished and was presumed dead. Malik's first mission as the new Red Skull was to steal Adolf Hitler's strongbox, rumored to contain plans for a powerful weapon the Soviets hoped would shift the balance in the escalating Cold War against the United States. To accomplish this, Malik infiltrated the U.S., assembling a team of communist operatives to raid the United Nations building in pursuit of the box. However, fate intervened when Malik encountered William Burnside and Jack Monroe, the latest individuals to assume the mantles of Captain America and Bucky after the presumed deaths of the original heroes.
Cold War[]
In February 1954, Malik assassinated Senator Joseph McRooter, a prominent figure in the government committee leading the era's notorious "communist witch hunts." Disguised as McRooter and backed by hired Nazi war criminals, Malik exploited the senator's influence, using the committee and Captain America's unofficial status to summon him for Senate questioning. Malik aimed to force Captain America to reveal his identity, but Captain America refused. With crucial intelligence from Betsy Ross, Captain America unmasked Malik as the Red Skull and thwarted his scheme once again. Soon after, the Red Skull and his agents attempted a raid on an American military base to steal information about a new atomic rocket in development, only to be thwarted by Captain America. Months later, the Skull devised a plan using a fake television broadcast to lure Captain America and Bucky into a trap. After capturing Bucky, the Red Skull brutally beat him to force Captain America to surrender and lead them to a secret government facility. However, Captain America outsmarted the Skull by causing their transport truck to crash, leading to the Red Skull’s apparent death in the accident.
The Red Skull survived and resumed his quest to steal Hitler's strongbox from the United Nations building. To aid in this, he revived a supposedly deceased communist operative known as Electro, breaking into the morgue where Electro’s body was held and reanimating him with an electrical charge. Together, they attacked the UN building once more. While Captain America and Bucky fought and seemingly defeated Electro, the Red Skull succeeded in escaping with what he believed was the strongbox. However, it was actually a replica containing a taunting message from a Nazi war criminal who offered to sell the real strongbox at a price. Undeterred, the Red Skull continued his relentless search for the true strongbox in the years that followed.
After a series of setbacks, the Red Skull returned to Algeria to continue his operations, likely still searching for Hitler's elusive strongbox. Decades later, one of his operatives, Gustav Fiers, uncovered that two of the Red Skull's trusted agents, Richard and Mary Parker, were in fact American spies assigned to infiltrate his organization. Enraged, the Red Skull ordered his operative, the Finisher, to eliminate them, resulting in their deaths in a staged plane crash. To discredit them further, he framed Richard and Mary as traitors to the United States and briefly considered seeking revenge on their infant son, Peter. However, Gustav ultimately convinced him to abandon this plan.
Modern Age[]
Malik remained active into the modern era, largely keeping a low profile once the original Red Skull returned years later. When Peter Parker, now an adult and the superhero Spider-Man, discovered that his parents had been falsely branded as traitors, he traveled to Algeria to uncover the truth. This confrontation brought him face-to-face with the Red Skull, the Finisher, and their operatives. In the ensuing battle, Spider-Man defeated the Finisher, extracting a confession and uncovering evidence that proved his parents had been framed.
The Red Skull’s next scheme involved stealing a remote trigger capable of detonating a nuclear bomb. The company behind the device enlisted Silver Sable International to retrieve it, prompting Silver Sable to send her operative, the Sandman, who was ultimately captured by the Red Skull. She then hired the Avenger Hawkeye and the French hero Le Peregrine to assist. Together, they managed to defeat the Red Skull and his operatives, rescuing Sandman in the process. When the heroes finally unmasked the Red Skull, they were shocked to see just how old he had become. While imprisoned, Malik orchestrated a mercenary assault on the mad scientist Arnim Zola's castle in Switzerland, aiming to assassinate the original Red Skull. The attempt failed, as the Red Skull’s defenses decimated Malik's hired team, sparing only one survivor: Brock Rumlow. Impressed by Rumlow's skill, the original Red Skull recruited him as his operative, later known as Crossbones.
Death[]
Soon after, Malik finally uncovered the location of Hitler’s long-lost strongbox, tracing it to a castle in western Germany. His minions staged a prison break, and Malik began planning to resume his activities as the Red Skull. However, his escape was thwarted when the pilot of his getaway helicopter revealed himself as an agent of the Scourge of the Underworld, a program secretly controlled by the original Red Skull. The Scourge killed Malik with a shot to the chest and reported his demise to the true Red Skull, who laughed at the death of his imitator. After Malik’s death, the original Red Skull recovered his diary and located Hitler’s strongbox, only to find it held nothing more than Hitler’s medals, artwork, anti-Semitic writings, and a manuscript of Mein Kampf—a deeply frustrating discovery.
