Black Widow Theory:
There is a reason why Black Widow is a Phase 4 movie. It may be a prequel story about Nat. It may be a film that will give us closure for Nat’s big sacrifice in Endgame. But it will also set up the future of the MCU in a big way. While we might see the first set up for mutants through Black Widow, the main part of the future will be none other than Taskmaster. He is going to become a major player in the MCU moving forward, and given all the clues, we have come with a theory that could find the perfect use for the copycat villain.
Spoilers for Black Widow follow.
As we all know, Taskmaster is someone who has photographic reflexes and can mimic his opponent’s fighting style. We have already seen him replicating the likes of Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Black Panther & possibly even Iron Man. He will also copy the likes of Yelena & Taskmaster in the upcoming film. But his identity has not been officially revealed till now. For many of us, it is kind of obvious that O.T. Fagbenle who is playing Rick Mason, Nat’s ex & her fixer will turn out to be the real Taskmaster at the end. But the one thing that people may not have predicted yet is that he could be working for AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics).
He may have the gift of photographic reflexes, but the suit provided by AIM would obviously aid his abilities by capturing everything through a camera at all times, and may be strengthening his attacks like an Iron Man suit does. Anyway, the reason we believe that AIM is the one running Taskmaster’s operations & collaborating with Melina’s Red Room because there’s a shot which specifically shows AIM being a part of the film. Take a look:
Beneath Yelena, you could clearly see the initials of AIM. If you don’t remember, AIM was the organization that was led by Aldrich Killian in the MCU, and it may be possible that the evil organization has found its new leader, George Tarleton aka MODOK (Mental/Mobile/Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing). George Tarleton may not have transformed into MODOK yet, but there are clues that he has been looking for advanced tech. He is probably the one who wanted the Pym tech in Ant-Man and the Wasp. And his villainous shenanigans might turn into MODOK.
But since MODOK is a giant floating head, his appearance may not be feasible at least for MCU’s Earth. So, we have a theory that MODOK might control MCU’s version of Super Adaptoid like he does in the Avengers Assemble animated series. For those unaware, Super Adaptaoid is similar to DC’s Amazo. He is an android who can literally copy the super powers of anyone he takes on. Basically, it is a much more advanced version of Taskmaster.
Taskmaster can mimic the physical fighting abilities of his opponents but Adaptoid can actually replicate their powers. He can recreate Thor’s hammer, his lightning attacks, Falcon’s wings, Captain America’s shield, Hawkeye’s bow & arrow, and what not. He has a shard of the reality-warping Cosmic Cube which helps create anything the Adaptoid wants. This android was created by Justin Hammer in the Avengers Assemble show, and then MODOK took control of it & enhanced it. But he might be directly created by MODOK in the MCU. And, the inspiration behind Super Adaptoid will be none other than Taskmaster.
CBR has a theory which states that a version of the Adaptoid bot can be behind the mask of Taskmaster. But thanks to various plot leaks and the obvious predictability of Black Widow, we know that Rick Mason is Taskmaster. But the theory that Mason could definitely lead to the creation of Super Adaptoid works perfectly. In fact, MODOK & Adaptoid could join The Leader, and together these two could become villains against the Thunderbolts (Taskmaster, Red Hulk, Abomination, Ghost, Zemo, Yelena Belova). Let’s wait and see how things turn out.
