Thunderbolts Director Finally Addresses That Controversial MCU Death (& Backlash)

Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier addresses Taskmaster’s controversial death in the film and the backlash that followed. In an interview with Variety promoting the Thunderbolts* home media release, the filmmaker opened up on the decision to kill Taskmaster. He noted it was a change that was implemented following the Hollywood strikes of 2023. Schreier felt initial drafts of the script were “a little bloodless” for a story about contract killers. In an attempt to inject some drama and impact into the film, things were tweaked so that Taskmaster met an unceremonious end. Schreier admits it was a tough decision and praised star Olga Kurylenko.

“It was something that happened after the strike, when we were redeveloping the script,” Schreier said. ” I know that there are people that have reached out to let me know that they’re displeased with this, and I totally understand that. It’s not something we did lightly. As we looked at the script and tried to do a new version, it was a little bloodless. In order to honor these characters and what they do, being contract killers … to have that movie take place with no one showing what that means didn’t really feel like it would land with as much impact. We considered all versions of it.”

He continued, “Obviously, I think Olga is a wonderful actress. It’s a hard thing to do. It’s just showing that, for these characters, this is a thing that’s done, and they feel that all of their lives don’t have a ton of value.”

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During the build-up to Thunderbolts*’ release, many Marvel fans suspected Taskmaster would die, as the character was conspicuously absent from several marketing materials. In the film, Ghost shoots Taskmaster in the head early in the first act, before the rest of the characters realize they were lured into a trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Even though Thunderbolts* earned widely positive reviews, Taskmaster’s death received much criticism. Fans believed she deserved better, especially after Black Widow detailed Taskmaster’s traumatic past.

In late May, there was speculation that Kurylenko could be reprising Taskmaster in Avengers: Doomsday. The actress posted a photo of herself in Bahrain, captioned “Working on a Sunday.” Earlier this year, scenes for Doomsday were being shot in Bahrain. Kurylenko’s involvement in the Avengers film has never been confirmed; she was the only main Thunderbolts* star missing from the Doomsday cast announcement that took place in March. Kevin Feige has teased there will be more casting reveals at a later date.

Thunderbolts* is about a group of unlikely allies coming together and realizing that their lives have meaning and purpose even though they’ve all made some terrible mistakes and done horrible things. In order to provide a foundation for that arc, arguably one of the characters had to die early on when they first cross paths with each other. Ghost’s ruthless kill establishes that initially everyone in the ensemble is out for themselves. Later, they learn the value in working together and operating as a team. Though Taskmaster’s death definitely could have been handled better, seeing the characters evolve and become the New Avengers gives the film a satisfying payoff.

While Taskmaster’s death served a necessary role in the Thunderbolts* story, hopefully there’s some way to bring the character back to the fold at some point. With the multiverse in play, there could always be a Taskmaster variant introduced, which would be a fun dynamic to explore in Doomsday since the New Avengers will be prominently featured. There’s also so much untapped potential with the character. Her time in the MCU was cut well too short. If there isn’t a spot for Kurylenko in Doomsday, then perhaps the character could return after the MCU gets its reset following Avengers: Secret Wars. If Feige is open to recasting heroes like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, then it should be easy to correct past mistakes with Taskmaster.