After much anticipation, Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts* has arrived in movie theaters. It features a who's who of characters introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Multiverse Saga, alongside veterans Bucky Barnes and Ghost, and it has made quite the impression of audiences. Some have called it one of the MCU's all-time best and it's hard to argue with that, for the hard-hitting, action-packed, emotionally resonant movie is a thriller of an experience.
It also has pretty high stakes and features a major death. If you have been keeping up with the film's promotional material ahead of its release, you'll probably know that a certain character met their end in this movie. If you haven't, then the abrupt, violent scene in Thunderbolts* might have genuinely surprised you. Although that was the point, one can't help but feel that it was somewhat uncalled for.
*** This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS from Thunderbolts*. Don't read on if you would prefer the movie was not spoiled for you. ***
Taskmaster's death in Thunderbolts* undermines Black Widow's central storyline
The opening act of Thunderbolts* saw Yelena Belova, Ghost, John Walker, and Taskmaster all set up by Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine as she sought to tie up loose ends. They were tasked with taking each other out before the surviving assassin was incinerated, but they eventually caught onto her plan and laid down their weapons. Before they did, however, Ghost completed her assignment, shooting Taskmaster in the head, killing the character instantly.
Director Jake Schreier has defended this decision, telling GamesRadar out that the film needed an early death to highlight that nobody was safe, saying "It needed a bit of shock or surprise". On paper, Taskmaster probably was the most expendable character - both due to the fact that she hadn't been all that involved in the franchise in the way that the others have, and that fans didn't respond particularly well to the original adaptation of the beloved Marvel Comics character - but it still leaves something of a bad taste in your mouth. And there is a good reason for that.
Antonia Dreykov's only other appearance in the MCU was in 2021's Black Widow, and boy did she go through it. The daughter of Dreykov himself, a.k.a. the man responsible for the Red Room, she was caught in an explosion orchestrated by Natasha Romanoff that was designed to kill her father. Years later, Natasha discovered that the plan failed as Dreykov survived and his daughter was left with life-changing injuries. Being the horrible man that he was, Dreykov saw this as an opportunity to create a new weapon, putting a chip in Antonia's head and programming her to become Taskmaster.
Throughout all of Black Widow, Natasha believed that Antonia had died in the explosion. It weighed on her because an innocent girl had been caught in the crossfire in her defection to SHIELD. And even though Natasha did a lot of good after that as one of the Avengers, she couldn't shake the guilt over Antonia's unnecessary death.
But then she learned the truth: Antonia wasn't dead, she had become her father's greatest weapon: The Taskmaster. And thus, Natasha took it upon herself to try and save Antonia from the life she had been sentenced to, saving Taskmaster from her prison as the Red Room was destroyed before eventually freeing her from the cognitive conditioning that her father had imposed on her. Having successfully done so, Natasha saved Antonia from the life that she had sentenced her to. It was a moment of redemption, not just for Antonia but for Black Widow herself.
The rescued Widows then took Antonia with her and the film ended with the promise of a better life for her. But, flash forward to Thunderbolts*, and it seems that she had found her way to the same unfulfilled life that Yelena had found herself in: Working as a mercenary for Valentina. The only difference is that Yelena was presented with an opportunity to leave that life behind. Antonia, on the other hand, was killed before she got that chance.
While the early death of Taskmaster in Thunderbolts* wasn't all that surprising, it was a moment of shock value that ultimately harms Black Widow in retrospect, undermining one of the most thought-provoking stories of Natasha's swan song. She saved Antonia from being used as a weapon - a life that almost led to imminent death - only for her to still eventually find a new life as a weapon, which did eventually lead to imminent death.
Call us crazy, but that just feels unwarranted - and a whole lot crueller of a character joruney than it needed to be.