Prior to Thunderbolts* (*The New Avengers) arriving in theaters, a rumor did the rounds that Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) wasn't going to last very long in the movie, but fans were still shocked by just how early the character checked out.
During the bunker fight involving most of the protagonists, Taskmaster briefly shows her face, says a single line of dialogue to Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), and is promptly killed off via a bullet to the head from Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen).
Antonia Dreykov did have a much bigger role in the movie at one point, as writer Eric Pearson explained back in May. In his original draft, the Black Widow baddie forms a bond with Ghost, and makes it to the end of the film.
"On the comedy side, she was struggling with her own memory-loss stuff, and there was a gag where she just kept restarting the fight [with John Walker] and forgetting that they had made up and become friends. They would be discussing the plan of how to get out [of the vault], and she’d just go after him again, and they’d all have to pig-pile on each other, and pull her off, and be like, 'No, we know each other! We’ve had this conversation before!'"
During a new interview with Deadline, Kurylenko addressed her character's unceremonious send-off, and the chances of returning to the MCU down the line despite Dreykov's pretty definitive death.
“They were changing the stories, I think that [there were] too many characters,” she said. “The thing is with Marvel, you never know. The superheroes die all the time, and they’re never dead.” She added: “In one story, you disappear, suddenly you come back… I think you just never die.”
Well, sometimes you do!
While it's true that characters do often return after being killed off in superhero movies, we're not sure Miss Dreykov will be quite so lucky - especially when you factor in that this character wasn't actually the Taskmaster from the comics. If Marvel Studios ever did decide to revisit the character, Anthony Masters would most likely be under the mask.
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.