Taskmaster really has the potential to be one of the most bad-ass villains of the MCU. So far people have like what has been displayed in the trailers, because Taskmaster has literally copied the skills of multiple Avengers. He will be a very formidable villain for Black Widow to take down. That’s not just because of his own abilities, but it’s because of his connection with Natasha & his abundant resources. Here’s every little detail that has been revealed about Taskmaster through the various trailers, new posters & plot leaks.
Potential Spoilers for Black Widow follow.
The Red Room
The latest trailer reveals that Taskmaster is the one who controls the Red Room. By control it means he really mind controls the actions of all the Red Room agents. It may be through the secret serum that we’ve seen in the hands of Natasha. Taskmaster really sends all the Red Room agents after Natasha & Yelena. This serum might come into use later in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as well. Rumor has it that the US government would use the same serum on John Walker / US Agent. So, even though US Agent really wants to do good, he won’t have control over his actions.
His Abilities
Taskmaster has photographic reflexes in the comics. The new trailer shows how he is able to mimic his opponents. We see him studying Nat’s fight patterns. He may have studied the fighting styles and abilities through archived footage of other heroes as well. That’s why we have seen him mimic Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Spider-Man & even Iron Man.
He may be physically talented to copy the moves of his opponents, but doing that whilst fighting multiple opponents at a time might be impossible. So, Taskmaster has a camera in his helmet. It constantly records and analyses the fight patterns or the opponents similar to how Iron Man does it in Civil War. The footage plays in the helmet just like it would inside Tony’s helmet. And the suit further helps him mimic the fight style.
His Identity
This is the first time a poster has featured O.T. Fagbenle. The actor has been quiet about his role in the movie and no trailer has used him. But he has mentioned “#TM” in his Instagram posts. Moreover, plot leaks have confirmed that Fagbenle will be playing Rick Manson, who is a fixer for Natasha, and an old associate. He really has some personal beef with Natasha, which is why he copies the fight patterns of her & everyone close to her.
He really wants to take her down and make it feel personal. And to take the suspicion away from himself, there might be another person under the mask at one particular point. That means, multiple people in the film might take over the secret identity of Taskmaster. The second person under the mask might be none other than Natasha’s surrogate mother, Melina Vostakoff (Rachel Weisz).
Vibranium
There’s a major possibility that TM has Vibranium in his suit and even his shield is made out of Vibranium. The shield can obviously deflect bullets but if you look at the above image, the shield seems to have dug itself into the ground. These aren’t the traits of an ordinary metal alloy. Taskmaster’s shield being Vibranium would surely allow for establishing more MCU connections. There are two other reasons which could point towards this.
First is obviously the claws. TM has claws that are similar to that of Black Panther. But if you look at the second photo, you could figure out that the red room agents are very diverse. It’s as if the Widows could blend in anywhere in the world. There’s one agent on the left who has some specific markings on her face. This could mean that she is a Wakandan spy and probably the source of Vibranium for Taskmaster. If not that, then the Black Panther movie proved that there’re still some pieces of Virbranium in the outer world. He may have found Vibranium through the wreckage of the Sokovian battle.
Other Resources
Taskmaster has the entire Red Room and possibly an army following him. So he is a pretty resourceful man, or at least has ties with the upper ranks of the Russian government. There’s a huge facility that is being kept hidden in the trailers. The final battle obviously takes place in this major snowy set piece.
Apart from the suit and the multiple planes, Taskmaster also has a self-driving Tank that he uses to chase Natasha & Yelena. It is a pretty cool weaponized Tank similar to the self-driving motorcycle that Idris Elba’s Brixton had in Hobbs & Shaw. Let’s hope that we haven’t seen everything from Taskmaster, and there is a lot more to watch in the theatres.
Here’s the official Synopsis of Black Widow:
“In Marvel Studios’ action-packed spy thriller Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger. Scarlett Johansson reprises her role as Natasha/Black Widow, Florence Pugh stars as Yelena, David Harbour portrays Alexei/The Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz is Melina. Directed by Cate Shortland and produced by Kevin Feige, Black Widow — the first film in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — hits U.S. theaters on May 1, 2020.”
