Warning: SPOILERS for All-Out Avengers #3An Avengers actor who left the MCU is finally given a small but important tribute within the pages of Marvel Comics nearly four years after his departure. Comics may have the reputation as an unchanging medium (thanks to numerous retcons and a rotating staff of writers and artists), but film does not have that luxury; live actors, when they leave a film series, must be replaced with another or their character leaves with them. In All-Out Avengers #3, one of the very few actors to be recast in the MCU is finally noticed in a rather roundabout way.
The MCU has dealt with leaving actors in multiple ways. War Machine was memorably played by Terrence Howard in Iron Man, but was replaced by Don Cheadle in all subsequent sequels. Edward Norton, who played Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk, was played by Mark Ruffalo from 2012's The Avengers going forward. By far the most high-profile loss of an actor was Chadwick Boseman, who sadly passed away in 2020; rather than recast his role of T'Challa, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was rewritten to include his death, and the entire film dealt with the loss of a king, an Avenger, and a family member. But some actors leave without such tributes.
In All-Out Avengers #3, written by Derek Landy with art by Greg Land, the Avengers are engaged in a massive fight with the Red Skull - and his many copies. In the Marvel Universe, an LMD stands for Life Model Decoy: an android replica of an individual that is incredibly difficult to tell apart from the real thing. Unfortunately, the Red Skull has dozens of LMDs available to him; an enraged Captain America (Sam Wilson, but Steve Rogers is also in the adventure) remarks "Getting some real Agent Smith flashbacks here."
Hugo Weaving Receives A Shout-Out In Avengers Comics
Captain America may not know it, but readers are immediately aware: the issue is paying tribute to Hugo Weaving, who memorably played Agent Smith in the Matrix series of films. Hugo Weaving played the Red Skull in 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, but was unable to return for his cameo appearance in Avengers: Infinity War. The role eventually went to actor Ross Marquand, who was nearly indistinguishable from Weaving thanks to the look of the character and Marquand's impressive vocal impersonation abilities. In the comic, it appears Derek Landy wanted to at least pay tribute to the very first actor who played the Red Skull in the MCU.
The All-Out Avengers comics series prides itself on non-stop action, and while the plot is quite involved, small shout-outs to Marvel trivia are quite rare to spot. That being said, it is important that past actors of the MCU - and past characters - are remembered, even if they are replaced down the road. The new Avengers series isn't complete just yet, but Hugo Weaving's time in the MCU has sadly come to a close.