Black Widow: Who is Taskmaster and why is he such a great character?
By Mark Lynch
Who is the Taskmaster and what makes him the perfect MCU villain?
Natasha Romanov (Black Widow) made her first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Iron Man 2. It’s been 9 years since she first appeared and she’s finally getting a project of her own.
In May of 2020, Marvel Studios will release Black Widow’s first solo movie (aptly titled Black Widow), and there has been a lot of talk about who the villain will actually be.
We recently discovered that Stranger Things’ David Harbour will be playing his second comic book character in the film, going from portraying Hellboy in this year’s ill-fated reboot to the Russian spy Alexi Shostakov in Black Widow’s solo adventure.
However, Marvel Studios’ Director of Visual Development & Concept Artist Andy Park revealed another Marvel Comics character will be making their MCU debut in the film: the incredibly dangerous Tony Masters a.k.a. Taskmaster.
Check out this 1st reveal of the keyframe illustration I did for the Black Widow film... & TASKMASTER!!! #blackwidow #taskmaster @MarvelStudios #scarlettjohansson pic.twitter.com/c4504e6BEu
— Andy Park (@andyparkart) July 21, 2019
Who is Taskmaster?
Marvel Comics fans will know that Taskmaster is not be someone to be messed with. His power allows him to be a threat to anyone from Wolverine to Captain America, while his photographic reflexes ensure that he can replicate anything he sees – from playing an instrument to a fighting style.
If that isn’t dangerous enough, he’s been known to combine move-sets of different people all at once. So he can move with the agility of Spider-Man and complete the combination of moves with a kick that he once saw Iron Fist use. Furthermore, he also comes with replicated weapons like Captain America’s shield and Spider-Man’s web shooters.
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However, there is a curse with this power, for with everything he learns, he forgets a part of his past.
In the Taskmaster mini-series, the writers dig into his past and it’s different from what we were previously told. Not only do we learn that he was an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. but we also discover how he got his powers.
Tony Masters wasn’t born with the photographic reflexes. During a S.H.I.E.L.D. mission, Masters injected himself with an experimental serum that gave him his powers. Unfortunately for him, the side-effects were drastic, as the more complex the moves he learned, the more he’d end up forgetting.
The effects were so great that he didn’t know that he was actually a good guy. His wife (that he doesn’t know he has) became his handler. A gift and a curse; she could try and keep him on the good side, but whenever he remembered who she was, it was only a matter of time before he’d forget.
Image Source: Marvel Digital Comics
The type of Taskmaster you get in the comics really depends on who’s writing him.
Sometimes he’s fearless and goes up against the best of the best. For example, in his first Marvel Comics appearance, he took on The Avengers and almost won. He was so skilled that he made Spider-Man nervous on multiple occasions, and when he first fought Deadpool, he beat him with ease and made the Merc with a Mouth look foolish. He even had a hand in training U.S. Agent, Crossbones, and Spider-Woman.
On the other hand, he can also be funny, dangerous, and always about protecting himself (as seen during Avengers: Initiative). And then, there’s the cowardly version – the one that cried after Moon Knight scared him and cut the mask off his face.
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Putting him in the Black Widow movie is going to be the perfect MCU introduction for the character. Since he’s not an antagonist with an omega level power set, he’s the right person for Black Widow to fight. This also gives Taskmaster a platform to show off his skills as a fighter against one of the Avengers’ most elite combatants.
On the other hand, it’ll be cool to see how Black Widow can beat a guy who has a library full of fighting styles that will most likely include her skills as well.
Marvel Studios has a terrific history when it comes to casting villains, so hopefully, this streak of good antagonists will continue in Black Widow. However, let’s just hope they end their streak of killing them at the end of the movie.