In the MCU, the Red Skull is a German super-soldier created by the Nazis during World War II, but in Marvel Comics the origin of his superpowers is much darker, and it involves stealing Captain America's body. The Red Skull, in fact, was not originally a super-soldier, he became one after Arnim Zola transplanted his mind into a cloned body of Steve Rogers.
Johann Schmidt was a Nazi special agent, charged with sabotage and espionage operations in the United States. This is how he first clashed with Steve Rogers, Captain America, before he was deployed in Europe to help the US win the war. In the final days of the conflict, Cap and the Red Skull fought in Berlin, where Schmidt was buried underground after an explosion and put into suspended animation after inhaling an experimental gas. Though the MCU's Red Skull went through multiple revisions, the comic version of the character very different from the one seen in the movies, where Schmidt was the head of HYDRA, who tested a version of doctor Erskine's Super-Soldier Serum on himself. In Marvel Comics, Captain America and the Red Skull both awoke from suspended animation decades after the war, restarting their bitter rivalry. The gas that the Skull inhaled in Berlin, however, had dangerous after-effects. Schmidt learned that he was about to die, so he enacted a plan that would not only ensure his survival but also taunt his worst enemy forever. After fighting Captain America for one last time, the Red Skull died from the effects of the gas.
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However, in Captain America vol. 1 #350, by Mark Gruenwald, Kieron Dwyer, and Gregory Wright, it was revealed that doctor Arnim Zola had used his trademark
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