The Taskmaster thread

[chamber-music]

It's honestly best not to think of Taskmaster in this movie as Taskmaster and instead

Spoiler

just think of her as one of the many Black Widows under Dreykov's mind control, except this one happened to be his daughter and an exceptionally skilled fighter.

Like they literally could've just had a Black Widow in a generic black ski mask that was extra good at kicking ass and it would have been the same story.

Iron maiden/Melina is pretty much what you are talking about in the comics.

 

[Dark Raven]

They could still have the real Taskmaster in another movie since this was the Taskmaster programme and could've been set up by Tony Masters who could've provided the means for subjects to mimic other people's fighting while he still has the natural ability.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I am a big Taskmaster fan in the comics. This version is radically different backstory wise. But I am more open to new takes if you present me something story appropriate and interesting. I like what they did here overall. It's like a new character almost with same powers, sure. But it worked for me

 

[Mysteryman]

I am a big Taskmaster fan in the comics. This version is radically different backstory wise. But I am more open to new takes if you present me something story appropriate and interesting. I like what they did here overall. It's like a new character almost with same powers, sure. But it worked for me

It is good to know that not all Taskmaster fans feel the same about this.
Thanks for saying that.

 

[WatchProtect]

As far as I'm concerned her name is still Tony, she still has photographic reflexes, she's still alive which means all the snark and s**t can come later.

It's like reading a comic introduction for a character and because the character didn't have a big part you never read anything else with them because they "suck" She's obviously gonna come back and I'm pretty excited to see Russian Bada** Taskmaster

 

[Drizzle]

After seeing the opening credits I guessed that

Spoiler

Olga Kurylenko must be Taskmaster because she was the biggest name in the cast not to have any role assigned to her and hadn't even been advertised to be in this film. Also she hadn't shown up all that time. I guessed she was probably also Drekov's daughter who hadn't really died.

I do wish she wasn't mind controlled though because she was basically a drone. She should've been an assassin for hire with her own will and fully cognizant. Also wish that Olga Kurylenko wasn't all scarred in it as she's a beautiful woman.

They could've left her name out of the opening credits, or better still why suddenly have opening credits after all these Marvel films that don't have any?

Spoiler

I had actually forgotten that Kurylenko was in the movie when she showed up. Her involvement in the project at all was interesting considering she was on many a fancast list to play Black Widow back in the day before Scarlett was cast as Natasha. And yeah, it's rare for Marvel movies to have opening credits but it's not unheard of (Iron Man 2, the GOTG movies). In this case, I thought that they were well done and fit more into the narrative for the film.

 

[WeaponXCII]

As someone not all that attached (or even familiar) with the character, I have to ask: would it have even made sense narratively and thematically for Taskmaster to be Tony Masters for the movie that we were given?

 

[WatchProtect]

As someone not all that attached (or even familiar) with the character, I have to ask: would it have even made sense narratively and thematically for Taskmaster to be Tony Masters for the movie that we were given?

You'd have to change the connection to both Natasha and Dreykov. You could have just made them a hired assassin (which I find boring personally) but some narrative changes would have had to be made.

 

[Spider-Fan]

As someone not all that attached (or even familiar) with the character, I have to ask: would it have even made sense narratively and thematically for Taskmaster to be Tony Masters for the movie that we were given?

With the film as constructed, I don't think so. Many changes would had to have been made to make it work with the classic version.

 

[Web-Head]

As someone not all that attached (or even familiar) with the character, I have to ask: would it have even made sense narratively and thematically for Taskmaster to be Tony Masters for the movie that we were given?

I think one of the only things you could have done is what I said earlier and

Spoiler

have Tony Masters hired by Ross to hunt Natasha. You'd have to change some things storywise but that's the only way I think you could insert a more comic accurate take on the character here

 

[CadeSkywalker28]

Let's wait a year and i am pretty sure that we will see a scene in one of the movies or tv series where a mysterious hooded male character talks about his "plans" and then we get a close-up on his face and see a new Taskmaster mask with visible eyes.

 

[Mysteryman]

Let's wait a year and i am pretty sure that we will see a scene in one of the movies or tv series where a mysterious hooded male character talks about his "plans" and then we get a close-up on his face and see a new Taskmaster mask with visible eyes.

Why would Marvel NEED to do that?

 

[CaptainWagner]

I love Taskmaster in the comics and, while I wish we'd gotten a lot more here, they're clearly bringing the character along for the long run. There's really nothing about the OG Taskmaster that they can't do with this one.

Spoiler

Obviously, to maintain the twist, they can't develop Toni here. But next time we see her, they could definitely introduce the memory loss issue, as well as show her develop her unique personality that Tony Masters has in the comics. And she can easily start training henchmen - Maybe for Val's organization/The Thunderbolts or another morally grey outfit.

I loved the scene of her creepily watching fight footage and then that first fight on the bridge. That's exactly what I want from Taskmaster. I wish we'd gotten more of that. They easily could have had her show up at the prison, predicting Nat and Yelena would want to break out Alexi. But I'm excited to see what they have planned next for her.

 

[BobJM]

I think you just give the Taskmaster helmet to another person in order to continue using the character moving forward. That seemed to be where the mimicry power was derived from anyway—just have mercenary/ex-SHIELD agent Tony Masters acquire it from Val during whatever group she’s collecting for (Thunderbolts, Dark Avengers, whatever)

 

[WatchProtect]

I think you just give the Taskmaster helmet to another person in order to continue using the character moving forward. That seemed to be where the mimicry power was derived from anyway—just have mercenary/ex-SHIELD agent Tony Masters acquire it from Val during whatever group she’s collecting for (Thunderbolts, Dark Avengers, whatever)

Pretty sure Dreykov mentions it's her doing it not the helmet. Helmet pointed out pressure points, the threat level, but the Mimicry was Antonia.

She didnt die, and we barely got any thing from her why is everyone assuming her character Is useless now and that its impossible for her to show up again? All these things she's "missing" can occur through natural character progression

 

[BobJM]

Pretty sure Dreykov mentions it's her doing it not the helmet. Helmet pointed out pressure points, the threat level, but the Mimicry was Antonia.

She didnt die, and we barely got any thing from her why is everyone assuming her character Is useless now and that its impossible for her to show up again? All these things she's "missing" can occur through natural character progression

Spoiler

Antonia showing up again isn’t an impossibility; but it would be interesting to have her grow beyond the helmet. Taskmaster is a remnant of her past; time for her to explore being Antonia again and not her father’s secret weapon.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

Why would Marvel NEED to do that?

They already did it with the Mandarin so it wouldn’t be surprising

 

[Dark Raven]

How do we know Antonia goes by Toni and not Ant? I've heard both used before.

Why would Drekov name his daughter Antonia anyway? That doesn't sound like a very Russian name. It should've been Antonina instead which is more Russian.

 

[NHawk19]

She was basically a slave to her dad's will. Nat liberated her from that life. Can't see her wanting to return to take up the mantel again.

They did however refer to it as the Task Master protocol. Maybe "they" can or did make others. There is the question of whether she got the mimicry from some enhancements ala, Cap, Winter Soldier, Red Guardian or tech similar to T'Challa and Iron-Man. Clearly the Red Room's program had some level of both in their arsenal.

 

[Dark Raven]

Exclusive: Taskmaster Actor Opens Up About Secret Black Widow Role [spoilers]

 

[Detective Conan]

This is the best take on the Taskmaster twist(spoilers).

 

[TheVileOne]

I love Taskmaster in the comics and, while I wish we'd gotten a lot more here, they're clearly bringing the character along for the long run. There's really nothing about the OG Taskmaster that they can't do with this one.

Spoiler

Obviously, to maintain the twist, they can't develop Toni here. But next time we see her, they could definitely introduce the memory loss issue, as well as show her develop her unique personality that Tony Masters has in the comics. And she can easily start training henchmen - Maybe for Val's organization/The Thunderbolts or another morally grey outfit.

I loved the scene of her creepily watching fight footage and then that first fight on the bridge. That's exactly what I want from Taskmaster. I wish we'd gotten more of that. They easily could have had her show up at the prison, predicting Nat and Yelena would want to break out Alexi. But I'm excited to see what they have planned next for her.

I have no interest in seeing this character ever again.

 

[TheVileOne]

Pretty sure Dreykov mentions it's her doing it not the helmet. Helmet pointed out pressure points, the threat level, but the Mimicry was Antonia.

She didnt die, and we barely got any thing from her why is everyone assuming her character Is useless now and that its impossible for her to show up again? All these things she's "missing" can occur through natural character progression

It's her doing some of it, but the tech and the helmet is helping her do a lot of it.

 

[TeeKay]

It's her doing some of it, but the tech and the helmet is helping her do a lot of it.

Task Master shouldn't need any tech for the mimic though. My disappointment came from the fact that they couldn't even make the villain a credible threat. I'm far from a Task Master apologist but they wasted the villain. You have a villain who can mimic anyone's fighting style, like that's suppose to be scary. If they didn't want her to talk and make her a T-1000 Winter solider-esque threat, fine I'd have accepted it but she's not even any of that. Any of the Widows could have taken Task Master's place. They dropped the ball imo.

 

[Mysteryman]

I can understand people being upset about Taskmaster.
But I feel fortunate that I really never had any high expectations for Taskmaster in this film to begin with.