When the marketing for Thunderbolts* began to kick in, it became pretty clear that Black Widow baddie Antonia Dreykov, aka Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), wasn't being featured in the various trailers, promos and TV spots nearly as much as her teammates.
Fans began to speculate that the character would be killed off, which Marvel all-but confirmed when it was announced that every other main cast member aside from Kurylenko would be back for Avengers: Doomsday.
There were theories that this might be some kind of deliberate swerve to keep a specific plot point relating to Taskmaster under wraps, but no, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) takes Dreykov out with a headshot less than five minutes after she's introduced.
Though Thunderbolts* does have quite a bit in common with DC's Suicide Squad as far as the overall premise and set-up goes, it really isn't a "don't get too attached" type movie, so the decision to kill Taskmaster off so early was seen by some as a bit of a head-scratcher.
While speaking to EW, director Jake Schreier confirmed that Taskmaster's death was a late addition to the script - something that Kurylenko has hinted at in the past.
"Coming out of the strike, we were about to shoot, and we got shut down, and it gave us some time to step back from the movie. And when we all got back in the room, once the strike was over, and we were thinking about how to improve it, it really felt like the movie seemed just a little bloodless."
Though there was never any talk of making the movie R-rated, Schreier still wanted to add a bit of an edge to the story early on.
"For who these characters are, it should live up to those movies that have attention to 'em, where you really don't know who's going to survive it," the filmmaker goes on. "I know that's tricky in today's era where things get out before movies, but within the context of the film, it felt like we needed to take a swing like that so that you didn't really know who was going to make it, and also so that it was clear that it could have been any one of them."
As for why the character was killed off so quickly and not given a more ceremonious send-off in the final act, Schreier believes this would have "stepped on" the main focus of the story.
"The decision to do it when we did it, we went through a lot of different versions of that, and we thought very carefully about it," the director explains. "And it felt like, while it would've been very nice — and Olga is a wonderful actress — to have her on the team for longer, that death would've kind of reverberated a lot harder and made it harder to find our tonal balance if it had happened later in the film."
He continues, "And it would've occupied such a kind of more emotional space that would've stepped on what we really need to be building. And we have so little narrative real estate to do it, which is the connection between Yelena and Bob [Lewis Pullman], and the movie is really going to hinge on that. And so in order to keep our tone and to build that team together, it actually felt best, even if it feels a little cold-blooded, to have that happen early."
Have you seen the movie yet? If so, what did you make of Taskmaster's early exit? Let us know what you thought in the comments. You can check out our review here.
Marvel Studios recently announced the exciting news that Son Lux will be scoring Thunderbolts*. The three-member, American experimental band was Oscar and BAFTA- nominated for their score for 2022’s best picture, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
In Thunderbolts*, Marvel Studios assembles an unconventional team of antiheroes — Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and John Walker. After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, these disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts. Will this dysfunctional group tear themselves apart, or find redemption and unite as something much more before it’s too late?
Returning to their Marvel Cinematic Universe roles are Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Hannah John-Kamen and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The cast also includes newcomers to the MCU—Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer and Wendell Edward Pierce.
Jake Schreier directs Thunderbolts* with Kevin Feige producing. Louis D’Esposito, Brian Chapek and Jason Tamez serve as executive producers.
Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* opens in U.S. theaters on May 2, 2025.