Major spoilers for Black Widow beyond this point!
After multiple delays, Black Widow is finally available for fans to watch either in cinemas or on streaming. And it’s mostly going down a treat, with the spy thriller being praised for its direction, action, and lead performances. But one thing that’s not being received so well is the big twist over Taskmaster’s reveal. The fandom had been eagerly awaiting the debut of the major comics villain, but they weren’t prepared for how much they would be changed for the MCU.
Taskmaster is introduced as a masked, mute assassin working for General Dreykov (Ray Winstone), the man behind the Red Room. Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) was shocked to find he was still alive as she believed she killed Dreykov in Budapest years before, along with his daughter Antonia. It’s ultimately revealed, however, that not only did he survive but so did Antonia – and she’s the Taskmaster. Dreykov controlled his daughter’s mind and turned her into his puppet.
Suffice it to say, this is totally different from the comics character, who is male and also a much more fearsome adversary in general. “Taskmaster” has been trending on Twitter over the last day or so as fans vent their frustrations about the change.
Accurate meme usage.
Those thirsting after Taskmaster got a big surprise.
Hard to disagree with that.
Deja Vu for X2.
They had us going there.
On the other hand, others had some praise despite their grumbles.
And there were those who really appreciated the twist.
And the fact that Taskmaster’s identity was revealed way back in 2012 is very cool.
The Taskmaster twist is reminiscent of the controversial Mandarin reveal in Iron Man 3. Well, Marvel is finally about to fix that by introducing the real Mandarin in Shang-Chi, so maybe a different Taskmaster will eventually enter the franchise in a few years’ time. As for right now, you can catch Black Widow both in theaters and on Disney Plus.