Despite Black Widow's release date being delayed by upwards of a year (we'll now see it next May), Taskmaster's true identity still hasn't been revealed. There are plenty of theories out there, of course, but it honestly wouldn't come as a huge surprise if Marvel Studios chose not to unmask him, or if they've cast an actor to play the villain who has yet to be revealed.
Based on what little we've seen of Taskmaster in action, though, it's clear he's going to be a formidable threat to Natasha Romanoff and her allies. However, Hawkeye and Black Panther won't be the only heroes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe whose fighting styles he imitates.
Talking in the Black Widow: The Official Movie Special Book (which is now on sale from Titan Books), Fight Coordinator James Young had this to say about the battles between Natasha and Taskmaster.
"Taskmaster is, by far, the hardest character that we've had to design for because you finally have a character that can look at what you're doing, replicate it, and use it right back at you. And if you used it again, he will be ready for you. So, with the story for Taskmaster, we try to have a story for the fights. You see in the bridge fight that Natasha gets close to him and she tries to do the Widow move. But he's seen it before. He's done his research and completely just stuffs her! So, the hardest part for Taskmaster was to keep the fight engaging because it's easy to replicate choreography, but we have to have story pieces around it.
"For me, it's great what Natasha has to do during the bridge fight. She's got to look at this person in front of her. What do they want? In that fight, Natasha has to ask questions the whole time. She doesn't know why Taskmaster is there. Taskmaster has studied the Avengers; in the bridge fight you can see that. You see flashes of Captain America, you see flashes of Bucky, you see flashes of Iron Man, and you see Spider-Man in this sequence. How do you fight someone that can embody all the Avengers at once? The hard part of the fights is to make those moments read, but it's the moments you're going to remember. My favorite moment from that fight is when Natasha takes a beating just to get that grappling hook on Taskmaster's leg."
We clearly have a lot to look forward to when it comes to the portrayal of Taskmaster in live-action, and seeing Natasha throw down with a character who can utilize the skills of Captain America, Bucky, and Iron Man at the same time promises to be pretty wild. Black Widow is a talented fighter, of course, but is she that good?
We'll find out next year, but for now, be sure to share your Taskmaster theories with us in the usual place!