Taskmaster, the villain of Marvel’s Black Widow movie, is stealing some of Black Panther‘s moves. On Monday, Marvel Studios releases the final Black Widow trailer. The trailer shows Taskmaster imitating the fighting style of the king of Wakanda, as hinted at by a Funko Pop! vinyl figure inspired by the film. The trailer shows Taskmaster extending cat-like claws from his fingers. He then pulls off an acrobatic jump kick against Red Guardian, landing in a “superhero pose.” Black Panther is the latest Marvel hero fans have seen Taskmaster imitate. He also wields a shield like Captain America and fires a bow like Hawkeye.
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Black Widow takes place after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Though Black Panther’s existence was known to only a few people outside of Wakanda up until then, his pursuit of the Winter Soldier and participation in the battle at the airport in Civil War may have provided Taskmaster with the opportunity to study him.
David Michelinie and George Perez created Taskmaster. The character first appeared in Avengers #195 in 1980. In the comics, he is Tony Masters, whose “photographic reflexes” allow him to learn and master the fighting style or abilities of anybody by seeing them in action once. The identity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Taskmaster has not been confirmed. Some theories suggest it could be a familiar face, maybe even Hawkeye.
In the comics, Taskmaster usually sold his services to bigger villains and later set up a business training the minions of the Marvel Universe, such as A.I.M. and Hydra agents. After the Marvel Comics Civil War event, the government hired Taskmaster to train young heroes. This final trailer reveals that Taskmaster is now running the Red Room, the training program where young girls are broken down and built back up into Black Widows.
Do you think Taskmaster will fight like Black Panther in Black Widow? Let us know in the comments. Black Widow opens in theaters on May 1st.
Other upcoming Marvel Studios projects include The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6th, WandaVision in 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, Loki in spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, What If? In summer 2021, Hawkeye in fall 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022. Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk are also in the works for Disney+.
