Schmidt was the main villain in the first Captain America movie. He headed up HYDRA, a faction of the Nazi Party during World War II. He experimented on himself with a version of the super soldier serum that made Captain America tall and buff. Unfortunately for the Schmidt, the serum backfired and gave him, well, a red skull.

Captain America: The First Avenger introduced Schmidt as the head of HYDRA, the Nazi's science division during WWII. After subjecting himself to a prototype of Dr. Abraham Erskine's original super-soldier serum, Schmidt was left with a disfigured red face, earning the name Red Skull.

The Red Skull, also known as Johann Schmidt, is a HYDRA member and former Nazi whose face was deformed when he took an early version of the super-soldier serum that would eventually turn Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) into Captain America.