Spoilers are something that the majority of major Hollywood releases fail to avoid, with big reveals and major plot points regularly leaking online weeks if not months ahead of time. With that in mind, the Marvel Studios PR and marketing team deserve immense credit for keeping the identity of Black Widow‘s Taskmaster under lock and key until the movie came to theaters and Disney Plus Premier Access in July.
Most people thought O-T Fagbenle’s Rick Mason would end up being the mysterious villain, something he leaned into on more than one occasion during the buildup, but it was nothing more than classic misdirection. Of course, the jig was pretty much up when the previously-unannounced Olga Kurylenko took such a prominent position in the opening credits, but that didn’t really matter when Black Widow had already started by that point.
The ending of the Phase Four prequel leaves the door wide open for Taskmaster to return in any number of ways, but when asked in a recent interview with GamesRadar is she fancied the idea of headlining her own solo outing, Kurylenko was hardly shy in her response.
“Let me think about it. No, I’m kidding. Of course, I would. Of course. I think it’s important, and it’s closer to reality and how things go in life. And also more believable. I think it makes both of the characters more interesting. Because no one is a straightforward goodie or straightforward baddie, and therefore good people, even when they try to do something good, they just make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, even the superhero makes mistakes. And it makes Natasha more complex. It’s not just all perfect. It’ll be boring, right?.”
We’ve already heard plenty of rumors that Taskmaster could be back sooner than expected, and the Disney Plus expansion means that a TV series can’t be definitively taken off the table by any stretch of the imagination either, even if you’d imagine such an emotionless figure would be better suited to a supporting role.