Burning question: Should The Red Skull be a Nazi?

• Paramount Pictures
• SKULL SESSION: Hugo Weaving in 'Captain America'

Last week, this summer’s super hero film Captain America: The First Avenger released a neat-o production photo of The Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), the arch-nemesis of its star-spangled hero. It's a cool, creepy feat of make-up and costuming that may hint at the cheekbones and sneery expression of Weaving, whom you may recall as Agent Smith from the Matrix movies.

I'm usually the last person to dwell on anything to do with fashion, but the Skull still reveals something interesting. Look closely at his Gestapo-style uniform and you'll see that he has a tentacled skull on his belt buckle, and probably the same logo on his arm band. That’s the insignia for “Hydra,” an evil criminal/terrorist organization with long history in Marvel Comics “universe,” and is comparable to the James Bond franchise’s S.P.E.C.T.R.E. (the Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion).

So what? The surprising thing is that the Skull isn't sporting a swastika. In comic book lore, the Red Skull originated in World War II as a Nazi commander, guerilla fighter and all-around schemer. (In some versions of his origin, he was personally trained by Adolf Hitler to be a killing machine.) Where Captain America was created as a chemically-enhanced super-soldier and the embodiment of American virtues, the Skull served as a symbol to strike fear in the hearts of the Axis enemies. Director Joe Johnston's Captain American film takes place during World War II and reportedly presents a similar dynamic of the antagonists as opposite sides in a military propaganda war. So why isn't the Skull a Nazi, in keeping with decades of comic book history?