For better or worse, the world is talking about Taskmaster right now. The Marvel villain returned to screens in Thunderbolts*, the epic, fun, off-the-wall movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe that brings a number of the franchise's biggest antiheroes together for an unlikely adventure that may even result in them becoming the heroes that the MCU is in desperate need of.
Although the character of Taskmaster is one of the comics' most notorious villains for all the right reasons, the MCU's adaptation of the character hasn't exactly been all that well-received (although we will admit that there has been a lot of love for her in the past week). It's really quite unfair how the character has been treated, but there were some interesting conversations around whether or not the MCU version - who debuted in Black Widow - was a missed opportunity.
As it turns out, however, another Marvel star was in contention for the role at one point in time.
O-T Fagbenle confirms that he almost played Taskmaster in Black Widow
O-T Fagbenle portrayed Rick Mason in 2021's Black Widow but it turns out that he almost played a different role in the very same movie. When speaking to The Direct to promote the sixth and final season of The Handmaid's Tale, he revealed that he had actually auditioned to play the movie's primary villain, Taskmaster, as Marvel wanted him to play the role.
"Basically, I first auditioned for Taskmaster, and it was this, it was a really incredible speech, actually. It was an audition I was very proud of. I've still got it in the back someplace. And, he was this — I made him with an African accent, and he was this kind of maniacal-like character."
According to the star, he got extremely far in the auditioning process, with the role being narrowed down to either him or another actor, but it unfortunately went away when Marvel changed its mind on the direction of the movie and reinvented Taskmaster. The character would evolve into an original interpretation, becoming Antonia Dreykov - the daughter of the film's main villain, Dreykov: A ghost of Natasha Romanoff's past who controlled the Red Room and brainwashed the Widows.
Fans weren't receptive to the new iteration of Taskmaster, with many feeling that the rewrite simply wasn't necessary. In the comics, the villain (real name Anthony Masters) is an evil mastermind who was able to study and learn his opponents' fighting styles, strengths, and weaknesses. The film's version could only do all of that by being programmed to learn it like a machine and she was relegated to a glorified henchman for her father. Although Antonia was certainly full of potential, the film - and the MCU in general - never capitalized on it.
As "the Taskmaster that [he] was going to be didn't exist in that iteration of Black Widow", Marvel offered him the role of Rick Mason instead. That character proved to be an ally for Natasha, obtaining supplies for her throughout the movie (including but not limited to a place to hide out, weapons, suits, and the Avengers Quinjet).
Fagbenle would then go on to reprise the role in a cameo appearance in 2023's Secret Invasion, providing the same resources to Nick Fury when he needed to stay quiet and out of sight.
Would the actor be open to returning to the role in the future? That's an easy yes for him, as he tells The Direct: "When they give me the call [I'm ready to go]".
We may never Fagbenle's version of Taskmaster on our screens, but it's good to know that there is a chance of seeing him back as Rick Mason again in the future. Surely Yelena Belova needs supplies, right?